A New Hero A New Enemy
by Angelos D. Wolf
Summary: Set after assault, the Star Fox team is assigned to stop an enemy known as the Imperials from starting a full fledged war with Corneria which is still in ruin, and with such a large force, the Star Fox team are going to need help.
1. Chapter 1

**A New Hero A New Enemy**

A fanfiction by Evan Wolf (aka Tex Hempioro)

For you Dad**  
**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star fox or any of their characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

_This can't be happening, where is he? Running out of breath, hard to keep running away, can't keep running, just accept it and hope he doesn't kill you._

The lone jackal stopped running to catch his breath, accepting his fate after what seemed like an eternity of sprinting away from the danger that pursued him like a hungry bird of prey after a mouse. He heard a noise, the sound of leather boot souls clomping against the dusty, dirt covered ground. The jackal turned around and looked behind himself and stared in horror at the apposing figure slowly advancing towards him. His face was covered with a black scarf but the jackal knew exactly who this was, the steel colored fur, the bright red headband, the shining armor plates he wore for protection, and the long ragged scar that crossed his left eye.

"Please, don't kill me please, I can make you an offer, any offer of your choice, I can double my price, hell triple it if you like, please."

The jackal crashed onto his knees and held up his hands in a pleading gesture. The gray furred wolf simply watched as the jackal made a fools attempt to make him feel sympathy.

"Sorry, but your only wanted dead."

The wolf slowly lifted his blaster to meet eye level with the jackal.

"It's nothing personal."

* * *

"Subject terminated, bounty of five thousand Lylat credits has been transferred to account, Tex Hempioro." 

The monotone voice of the computer confirmed the hunt was successful. Tex was typing on his computer, watching as the screen reacted to his fingers touch on the key board. The clock on the monitor's screen told that it was getting rather late, so he shut off his computer and made his way towards the kitchen. He scanned the immediate vicinity for something actually worth eating. It had been months since he actually had "real" food, most of his were in cans or those dehydrated packets that claimed they were a full course meal.

_Just add water my ass, _he thought to himself as he grabbed a can labeled "meat surprise" in bold black letters.

"I hate surprises."

He opened the can and poured the contents into a plastic bowl As it hit the bowl's surface, it made a sickening splat. It didn't look like any kind of meat he's ever seen but as long as it wasn't green or moving on its own he didn't mind what he ate. After his dinner that he got reacquainted with in the bathroom, he headed for the shower and afterwords head to his bed to rest up for another day of hunting down and or dismembering any scum with high enough prices on their heads to peek his interest. As he shed his clothing he looked at himself in the mirror, his face was devoid of emotion with just a hint of anger and fury in his cold, bright gray eyes; he then stared at his scar, long and ragged, it ran from his forehead all the way down to his chin, crossing his left eye. Such haunting memories for that one scar, he would never forget that day he got it, he would never forget its meaning, and he would never forget who it was that gave it to him. After inspecting his face, he looked downward to his upper body, it as well as everywhere else on his body, was covered in scars, bullet wounds, whip lashes, burn marks, cuts, almost every injury was displayed on his body. With a deep sigh he opened the glass door to the shower stall and turned on the water, tampering with the temperature controls until the water was to his liking.

This was probably the only part of the day that he enjoyed. The warm water felt like a gift from the goddess on his body, soothing his aches and pains from his injuries that just never healed correctly, his left shoulder was probably the worst. While on a hunt for some drug smuggler he had to bash in a door with his shoulder, cracking his collar bone and dislocating it, perhaps that was why his left shoulder was always slightly slumped, didn't bother him too much though, he was still able to aim a blaster with pin point accuracy and he was right handed anyway. Still it did hurt like a mother when he gets shot in that particular spot.

The shower ended a little too soon unfortunately, if he could, he would stay in there for as long as he felt satisfied, but his HQ didn't have the biggest water tank in the galaxy. Tex looked at the digital clock built into the wall, it read 11:28 p.m. guess the hunt took longer than he expected, no matter, the point was he got the bastard and got paid, that's all he ever cared about anymore… and he hated himself for that. He collapsed on his bed and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, his mind in deep thought.

_Am I a bad guy? Hell I already know that answer, but I do some good for this shit hole of a system. The goddess knows Corneria can't save Lylat, without teams like Star fox their wouldn't even be a Lylat, well they can rot for all I care, I got nothing against you Pepper, but Corneria itself can burn in hell._

His anger soon turned to grogginess and he fell asleep, something he fears more than death.

_The alarm system was going off as a blinding red flash would hit his eyes every once in awhile, he sat on a cot as he waited for his father "stay here and be good" he said and that's what he would do._

_It was awhile since his father left him in the bunk room, like all eight year olds, Tex got curious, he hopped off the cot and ran to where his nose caught his father's scent, he made his way down the hallway of the station and was soon at the main hanger of the space station. The hanger was dim; most of the lights were shot out or didn't have electricity running to them, but with his sharp ears he could hear two individual pairs of feet hitting the ground, and two hearts thumping from exertion, whoever these two were, they were in fierce combat with one another. Tex crept behind a pile of overturned supply crates and watched as two very tall animals fought each which combat knives, they were highly skilled fighters, each countering and parrying each others moves at every turn. The small flaming piles of debris helped reveal the combatant's identities slightly, but it only took Tex a moment to know who one of them was, the shorter one of the two was no mistake, his father, Mark was covered in sweat and small cuts on his arms and fingers, the other Tex could not identify, but he was a very tall, muscular hyena. Mark quickly darted his eyes in Tex's direction , he stared at his son for a moment, he was frozen in place, he had never seen his father like this before, so hurt, so worried, so terrifying._

"_Run son, run, do you hear me, I said run!"_

_His father shouted at him as he quickly shot his head back to his opponent. He ran up to the hyena and was about to plunge his blade into the giant of an animal that was in front of him…that never happened. The hyena quickly parried and held Mark's hand above his head as he drove his dagger into his cheat and through his back._

"FATHER, FATHER NO!"

Tex shot up from his bed and pulled the concealed knife from under his pillow, screaming and swinging it in front of him, still half asleep. After he finally struck something, he stopped screaming and pried open his eyes. His breath came in large heaves as sweat dripped from his face and exposed chest.

"Will it ever end?"

He got no answer, he never did and he probably never will.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of the characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Great Fox: Corneria orbit, 1:35 a.m. local time. 

It was quiet on the Great Fox, a nice change of pace from the usual alarms and sirens going off at the sight of an attack. With all the work that team Star Fox was having, you would think they would be sound asleep, most were, except for one particular orange vulpine. Fox was awake, but why? He was tired, he wanted to do nothing more then just sleep the rest of the night, but some unknown force wasn't letting him. He let out a quiet sigh so as not to wake the beautiful blue vixen sleeping beside him, normally he slept so soundly, Krystal being a large factor in this, but his mind was too preoccupied with everything that was going on. It wasn't that long ago that they defeated the Aparoids, and now they were thrust into another conflict between apposing forces, and with Corneria still under construction from the invasion, they wouldn't last five minutes if these Imperials as they called themselves were to attack the defenseless planet. Pepper had told them little about this new enemy, but he didn't skip the important parts; they were a rich government, they had a strong military, and they were smart. Sure they have military on other planets besides Corneria, but they weren't going up against just one planet like Venom or the Aparoid home world, no they were going up against an entire star system, with their own military, their own system of planets, hell even their own language, just learning that language was a battle in itself and Fox was no linguist. They were similar to them, they were animals, mostly canines, but they seemed...different, he couldn't think of the right word to describe them. He would have said savage but that wasn't right, they were very intelligent, not one bit primitive, but the way they moved, and the way they thought, it was like they were predators hunting their food than soldiers fighting other soldiers.

His thoughts were disturbed as he heard a soft groan from the other side of the bed. A furry blue paw began to rub his chest soothingly, running her fingers through the strands of fur that covered his body.

"Can't sleep either, love?" Fox said.

He moved his hand so he could sift his fingers through the beautiful vixen's azure locks, causing her to sigh in comfort.

"I cant' sleep because you can't sleep, I don't need to be telepathic to know something's on your mind. Tell me what's bothering you."

Her voice was a soft whisper, it was like music to Fox's ears and he loved hearing it, especially when it was directed towards him.

"I'm just bothered, that's all, and this is a new enemy we know nothing about. They have a military force that rivals Corneria's; we never fought against a force that large, at least not without the C.D.F. backing us up. I guess I'm just worried that we will get overwhelmed by all this, lets face it, four pilots can't stop an entire army, damn it we need help, reinforcements, something."

"Calm down Fox, Pepper can help; he's always been there to help. I'm sure he can find us some extra assistance. Now let's not think about such troubling things, instead let's do something more enjoyable."

Krystal then moved to lay on top of Fox, bringing her lips against his in a passionate kiss. Fox brought his hands up to cup both sides of her face, deepening the kiss. They both pulled away to look into each other's eyes, those bright blue eyes were probing his intense emerald ones, waiting for him to make his next move that would deepen this moment of fiery passion and pleasure. He grabbed her wrists and spun her around so that he lay on top of her, he pinned her arms above her head and leaned closer to her muzzle to plant another kiss on those soft, warm lips, while her legs wrapped around his waist to pull her closer to him. For the rest of the night, the two mates continued to move to the age old rhythm of love.

* * *

Fox awoke, well rested the next morning. He felt very warm and relaxed; Krystal always knew how to make him feel better. He was about to get up when he realized that she was lying on top of him, still asleep. He watched her sleep for a moment, listening to the sound of her soft breathing; _she looks so peaceful_ he thought to himself. He wanted to just lie there all day but he had work to do, so he softly shook her out of her sound sleep. 

"Come on love, time to wake up."

She slowly lifted her head from his chest to meet his face. She gave a soft smile and yawned, still groggy from just waking up.

"Morning already, can't we just take this day off?"

"Sorry, but we still got a war to prevent. Don't worry though, when it's all over well all go on vacation, I promise."

"Fine, but you're going to have to treat me like a queen when we do go."

Fox chuckled and stood up from the bed. He began the morning ritual with a few stretches and a yawn, and then made his way to the dresser where he kept his flight suit in, as he was dressing, Krystal was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and clipping on the white colored beads that decorated her blue bangs. Fox was reaching for his other boot but found that it wasn't with the rest of the uniform, so he began searching around for his boot until he looked down to see that Krystal was wearing it on her left foot.

"Lost something did you?"

She giggled as he slipped off the boot, but before he let her go, he gave her leg a tickle with his fingers causing her giggling to increase.

"You like them so much, ill get you a pair."

* * *

When everyone was gathered on the bridge of the Great Fox, it was time to begin the daily grind. Falco was tapping his foot while he was reclined in his chair, Slippy was typing on his monitor, his fingers blazing on the keyboard so fast it would probably start a fire if he kept at it, Krystal was standing next to Fox, holding his left hand while Fox was waiting for the days assignment to be delivered to him from the quickly recovering General Pepper. 

Finally the aging hound's face was shown on the large screen in the front of the bridge. He looked much better than he did a few weeks ago; he was quickly recovering from his injuries caused by the Aparoid's infection. The large smoke filled sky of Corneria in the background however made the crew member's hearts sink. Thankfully the C.D.F. building held strong during the invasion. As always, the small sound of trumpets could be heard right before Pepper spoke, signaling for everyone that they both need to pay attention and he was a high ranked individual.

"General Pepper here, great work on the Imperial situation Star Fox, with what we are dealing with down here, the last thing the citizens need on their minds is another war."

Fox moved up closer to the monitor and addressed the general with a salute. He may not have been military, but Fox saluted his old friend out of respect.

"Thank you sir, were doing our best to make sure this doesn't become a full fledged war. But before you assign us another mission, I need to ask a favor of you."

The general's face began to show great interest so he let Fox continue with his statement.

"Me, as well as the team, are becoming overwhelmed with enemy forces and missions that are very difficult to handle with only a four man squad, so we were all hoping that if you…well…"

"We need some reinforcements to beat down those Imperial bastards."

Falco took the liberty to finish Fox's sentence for him. General Pepper was caught off guard at Falco's forwardness for a moment and then straitened himself and responded

"I see, but I'm sorry to say Fox that our military staff is too preoccupied with the cities well being right now, not to mention there are sick and injured citizens down there that need all the help they can receive. But I could contact someone who could help you, I knew this man when he was just a pup and even then he showed promise, I could contact him and ask for his assistance to help you in your missions."

The team took a moment to think about the general's offer. Bring aboard a complete stranger that they know nothing about to help them in life threatening situations. It was a tough call, but they needed all the help they could get. Fox then walked back up to the monitor.

"Who is this guy you're recommending?"

"His name is Tex Hempioro, he is a bounty hunter who-

"Whoa, whoa, whoa hold on a second, a bounty hunter? No way in hell are we letting a bounty hunter aboard this ship, they can't be trusted, not to mention they are ruthless thugs!"

Falco interrupted Pepper's sentence. The moment the crew heard those two words they thought Pepper had lost his mind to recommend a bounty hunter.

"You weren't so different from them once Falco. Listen, General the offer is appreciated but a bounty hunter? I don't think that's a wise decision, we do need help but a bounty hunter would probably just add more unnecessary risks to my team."

Fox had dealt with bounty hunters before, most of them were very ruthless and violent, also they were very unpredictable, and they never really cared if any innocent got hurt just as long as they got their target.

"Fox, I assure you, this man is different from the others. Tex Hempioro has values and makes sure no one gets hurt on the job, he may have had a troubled past but he is an honorable man with good intention."

* * *

"Where is he, you bastard?" 

Tex slammed the raccoon's head against the wood table of the small hideout. He wasn't giving up any information and it was starting to piss him off.

"You're starting to piss me off (told you) now you should start talking or I'm going to have to get really nasty."

Tex reached behind him and pulled out a very large, sharp looking combat knife. He held the tip of the sinister looking blade under the sweating raccoon's chin. He knew the hunter would not hesitate to kill him, so he weakly lifted up a trembling finger to an automatic door with a hand scanner for access. While still holding onto the raccoon's throat, Tex walked over to the door and grabbed his hand and placed it on the scanner. An annoying buzz sound confirmed that it was still locked. He spun the raccoon around so that he was starring at the intense gray gaze of Tex's eyes.

"Why won't it open?"

He said in his deep, emotionless voice.

"I'm just a guard; all they give me to do is guard the entrance and use the radio if something's happening, that's it, they don't tell me any of the important stuff."

Tex lowered the raccoon that he was lifting up with one arm and dropped him on the floor. He rolled up his sleeves and stepped towards the door.

"You can't hack it; its security system is as tight as the militaries."

"Shut the hell up, I know these things can't be hacked, that's why I'm going to open it up another way."

Tex wiggled his fingers into the door's crease, took a few deep breaths, and began to pry the door open with his bare hands. He began to growl as the door was being pulled apart, grunting and pulling until it made a gap large enough for him to get through. The raccoon sat on the floor, watching in horror as this "thing" just pried open a steel door with his bare hands. When Tex had finished, he looked back down at the guard that was frozen with terror. The six foot seven giant walked over to the guard sitting on the floor, lifted him up, and dusted off his jacket with his paws, causing the raccoon to display a confused expression on his face. Tex looked at the newly opened door then back at the guard and patted his shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Thank you for showing me which door to go through, but since I can't have you following me…"

Tex then grabbed both the raccoon's shoulders and slammed his forehead into the guard's, knocking him unconscious. He squeezed in between the opening he made in the steel door and walked to where the hallway led him to another door, this one however, had no hand scanner and instead had a door knob lock. He placed his ear to the door and listened to the grumbling, boredom stricken individuals that were posted behind the door.

_Six guards, automatic weapons, poorly organized, one with a gimp in his left leg caused by a twisted ankle, _Tex thought to himself. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"Yeah, who is it?"

"Shot"

"Shot who?"

"Shot you."

A laser blast laced through the door, through the guards stomach, and hit another guard in the chest, killing both. The remaining guards unloaded their weapons on the door; filling it with holes and causing a large cloud of smoke to form, a round of clicks were heard as the guards reloaded their weapons and waited for the smoke to clear. The door was completely gone, revealing just an empty hallway and a limp body of a guard with a large hole in his stomach. When the noise stopped, a large round object bounced into the room and sat there for a few moments before it exploded. With the room cleared out, Tex made his way through to the door on the other end, stepping in a small pile of guard residue on his way towards the door. He kicked open the door, startling the two body guards in the room and made the shadowy figure jump up from his desk. Just as he kicked open the door, Tex shot the guards in between the eyes, then trained both barrels on his main target.

"Get up slowly."

The brown spotted leopard slowly stood up from his desk and held his hands above his head.

"Geoffrey Mallinquest?"

"Yes?"

"You are wanted dead or alive; today's your lucky day, your worth more to me alive so you get to live to see another sun rise, so if you will come with me to the collections department, you can go to your nice little holding cell and I can go to counting my twenty grand that I just inherited. Sound good?"

"Listen friend, you're a man of business I can see, I'm sure we can both come to an agreement. Tell you what, if you keep the heat off me and my boys operations, ill give you fifty percent of everything I make, that sound good?"

Tex wasn't falling for it; he pretended to be distracted by the leopard's smooth talking as he reached under his desk for what he guessed to be a weapon stashed under there. Mallinquest quickly pulled out a large assault rifle from under his desk and aimed it at Tex, but as quick as a flash, Tex shot the leopard's hand and both knees, bringing him crashing down to the floor. Geoffrey roared in agony and rolled back and forth; doing anything he could to ease the pain.

"You son of a bitch, you shot my hand off, you heartless son of a bitch!"

Tex simply walked over to the leopard and kicked him in the side of the head to shut him up. He lifted the unconscious Mallinquest onto his shoulder and made his way to his ship.

"You start bleeding on my coat I might change my mind about bringing you in alive."

It may have been quite extreme but it was a very expensive coat and it was dry clean only.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Small establishment outside of Katina's main city, currently 4:05 a.m., local time. 

_He looked around the small, dark bunk room of the headquarters. Their were two sets of bunk beds, each with their own matching green blankets and sheets that were covering the occupants of their respective mattresses. As he looked around, he found that one of the beds across from him was empty, why this was he didn't know, they weren't allowed outside of the headquarters when it was time for rest. Ever curious, the steel furred lupine quietly got out of bed so as not to wake his comrades and walked over to the unoccupied space on the bed. He sniffed the sheets a few times to catch the scent of who was missing._

"_Jenna, where did you go?" He pondered._

_With the scent of his teammate still fresh in his nostrils, the tall wolf walked down the small hallway of the headquarters to look for the absent Jenna. With his sharp nose, he finally found her in the kitchen, leaning down to see what the refrigerator held within its metallic walls. He couldn't help but stare at the beautiful fiery haired female fox's rump, doing so caused him to gulp as his face was starting to grow warm, a shade of red began to color his gray and white furred cheeks. Jenna stopped rummaging through the fridge and closed the door with a pack of sliced lunch meat in her hands. She sighed and without looking over, she addressed the blushing gray wolf that was staring at her._

"_It's rude to stare at others you know; didn't your mother teach you to respect women better?"_

_She turned around to stare at a now shocked looking lupine. He scratched his chin, a gesture that always showed that he was growing nervous._

"_Actually, it was my father who taught me to treat women with respect, and I was just wondering where you were. Your bed was empty and you know we aren't allowed to be up during our sleeping hours."_

_She just watched as he talked, drinking in every last word he said in that deep, gruff sounding voice. She turned back to the lunch meat and the other ingredients she had accumulated and began to construct a rather tasty looking sandwich. Finally she spoke._

"_Your father must not have been a good teacher in that particular subject, but ill forgive you, you're my teammate after all. Hungry?"_

_She offered him another freshly made sandwich which he took._

"_Thanks."_

"_Why don't you talk much?"_

_Her sudden question caught him off guard._

"_Excuse me?"_

"_Why don't you talk much? Do I need to spell it out for you?"_

"_No, no, it's just no ones ever asked before."_

"_So, why don't you?"_

"_Don't have anything worth saying I suppose." _

"_Don't give me that, everyone has something to say, so say it."_

_He gave a heavy sigh and took another bite from his sandwich._

"_It's…complicated."_

"_Robert's complicated, choosing not to talk is something else. I won't leave you alone till you spill it."_

_He chuckled at her remark to their other teammate. She was right, Robert was a bit complicated._

"_It's… just…I can't explain it, it has to do with something that happened a long time ago."_

"_What happened?"_

"_What's with all the questions, why do you want to know?"_

"_Just curious I guess, so what happened?"_

"_I don't want to talk about it."_

"_C'mon, you can tell me, it will be our little secret; did you accidentally trip and fall in front of a girl you really liked; or was it that your pants fell off cause you forgot to wear a belt; or was it-_

"_I said I don't want to talk about it!"_

_He snapped at her, causing her to suddenly jump at the increased volume of his already deep voice. A lone tear could be seen rolling down his cheek and Jenna knew she was asking about a sensitive subject. She saw she was upsetting him so she tried to apologize. _

"_I'm sorry." _

"_It's alright, I'm sorry for yelling at you."_

_Jenna combed away a strand of her fiery locks away from her eye; then, in a very unexpected move, leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. This caused every strand of fur on his body to stand on end, she never kissed him on the lips before, maybe during a mission she would lightly kiss him on the cheek as a show of her thanks or to just tease him, but never had she kissed him on the lips. It felt good; it felt like he had found something that he had been longing for. She slowly pulled away from his lips and stared into those bright gray eyes. She took a paw and rubbed the side of his face, it was soft and smooth, strange for someone in this line of work, normally their faces would have scars covering it but he had no blemishes or scars anywhere on his face. Then with a soft voice, she whispered to him._

"_If you ever want to talk about it, I will listen."_

"_Thank you Jenna."_

"_No problem Tex."_

* * *

Tex slowly opened his eyes and looked to his left at the digital clock display. The bright green numbers showed that yet again he had not gotten a full night sleep, but this was normal to him so he just grunted and made his way to the kitchen and looked in the fridge for something to settle his nerves. When he found that their were no beers in the fridge he grunted again, this time a little louder as he banged the palm of his paw on the side of the fridge. 

"Why'd you run out of beer on me?"

The fridge didn't give a response.

"Fine, screw you then, ill just go out to a bar."

With one final smack at the fridge for its disobedience, Tex dressed himself in casual attire. He pulled on an olive green t-shirt, a pair of baggy blue jeans, and his freshly washed black leather trench coat; he also slipped on a pair of black Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers. When he was dressed, he walked out of his "HQ" as he called it and began a long trek to one of his favorite drinking establishments. He never chose to drive, too hectic and too much traffic, and it was way too early in the morning to get yelled at by some angry motorist with a middle finger shoved in your face.

After a few good miles, Tex finally made it to a bar that he frequented. "The Hot Spot" was displayed in big red glowing letters, the place itself wasn't too bad, sure it was small, but that's one of the reasons Tex liked it so much, it was quiet, air conditioned, and a rather friendly atmosphere despite some of the rowdy late night partiers who would barge in. He pushed open the door and made his way to a bar stool that sat far on the end from anyone else. It was a bit empty, but that was to be expected at this time of day, the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. Tex sat down on the red cushioned stool and waited patiently as the bartender made his way towards him, the burly German Shepard stopped as he saw Tex and waited for a response for his drink of choice.

"Give me the house brand."

That was all he said and nothing more. As Tex was enjoying his drink, one of the other bar customers slowly walked up to him and sat down on the stool to his right, she was a husky in her mid twenties by the looks of it, and was quite attractive. Tex could tell she was staring at him so without taking his eyes off his bottle he addressed her.

"Can I help you miss?"

The female husky hesitated for a moment, but then responded.

"You just looked a little lonely, sitting here all by yourself, mind if I join you?"

"Sure."

"So where are you from stranger?"

"Katina."

"You're a local boy, eh? That's cool, I see you around here quite often; guess you like this place don't you?"

"It suits me."

There was a long pause between the two; Tex was busy finishing up the contents of his bottle. He never made eye contact with the girl, he just kept staring forward. Finally she spoke, but the question took Tex a bit by surprise.

"So who is she?"

"What?"

"The girl that you're thinking about, she dump you or something? I know that look; I've seen it millions of times."

"This is how my face always looks."

"Oh, well your face looks sad, just so you know."

"Thanks for the news flash."

Tex cringed. Why was he being so rude to her, she was just trying to make friendly conversation, it was then that he remembered his father's words to treat everyone, especially women will respect, so with his newfound manners, he began the conversation again.

"Sorry, that was rude of me. My name is Tex and yours?"

He offered her a paw.

"Marian and don't worry about it. So she must have been someone real special to you, huh?"

"Yep; bartender, can you get me another bottle please?"

The dog slid another brown bottle in Tex's direction. He grabbed it and took a gulp of the precious liquid that was inside.

"What was her name?"

"Jenna."

"Did you two get separated just recently?"

Tex paused for a moment and looked at the girl sitting to his right. He thought for a moment and responded to her question.

"No, but I dream of her. So I see her occasionally."

"That's sweet; I wish I had hansom guys dreaming about me."

She paused for a moment and added to her statement.

"Did you two ever…you know."

Tex was catching on to what she was saying. He didn't feel uncomfortable about it, its just that it brought up more painful memories.

"No, we never did. Now I think your starting to go beyond your boundaries, so if you don't mind, no more questions like that."

"Sorry, just curious."

She gave a nervous chuckle.

Tex turned away from the girl's face and closed his eyes to hold back the tears that he felt forming. He hadn't cried in years, not since that faithful day his heart was ripped to shreds and he wasn't starting again now, so he finished his beer quickly and paid the bartender a few credits extra and began walking out of the bar. Before he walked out something grabbed his arm, he turned around to see the cute female husky holding onto his arm. She looked up at him and leaned closer so only he could hear her.

"Will you be here tomorrow?"

Tex stared at her for a moment longer and said only one word.

"Sure."

* * *

Imperial space, sector 3, 6:25 a.m., local time 

Laser fire could be heard, followed by a loud explosion, then some yelling from both sides of the front. These sounds were becoming all too familiar to the small team of mercenaries. They were pinned down by a volley of automatic laser fire, flying pieces of shrapnel, and loud, angry words from the Imperial forces. Fox had taken cover behind a few supply crates, reloading his blaster and taking a deep breath, preparing to jump out and unload his new ammo clip on those funny talking freaks. He looked back to see the rest of his team having similar difficulty as he was; Krystal, who was one crate back and to the left of him, gave Fox a reassuring smile and began giving cover fire for her team's leader. He stayed low, moving from crate to crate through the narrow storage space underneath the cargo ship, occasionally peeking above the crates to see what was happening. His ears flickered as he heard a small beeping sound from his wrist computer. He pushed the flashing green button and waited for whoever was contacting him to respond.

"Yo Fox, you OK up there man?"

Falco's face appeared on the small screen on Fox's wrist. He looked back over the crate to see if he had enough time to report his situation to Falco, then turned his attention back to the screen as a laser blast whizzed right above his head.

"I'm fine Falco, won't be much longer till I get to the center of the storage unit and plant the charges. But I'm a little pinned down here; could you give me a little support?"

"Sure, on my way. No hero stuff you got that?"

He cut the connection line, leaving Fox behind the crate waiting for more covering fire from Falco. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a bright yellow sphere with large blue dots on each side; pushing down on one of the blue dots, Fox held the grenade in his hand for a moment to let it heat up, then tossed the small deadly ball over his shoulder and waited for an explosion. After he heard the sweet sound of a loud bang and a few screams from the Imperial troops, he jumped up and made a dash for the center of the complex. Falco was taking careful aim, taking down any troops that might have survived the grenade's blast.

"Thirty one, thirty two, thirty three…"

His counting was interrupted as his wrist computer began to beep from someone contacting him. He shot the last soldier that he saw and quickly pressed the green button.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Falco, I'm setting up the charges as we speak, start heading out while I finish up here; ill meet you back at the Arwings, Fox out."

Fox closed the line while Falco ceased fire and began to round up Slippy and Krystal. He gave a few complex hand singles to the team and they all began to head for the landing platform, occasionally looking back to make sure his leader wasn't turned into a grease spot. The three were at the landing platform as instructed, now all they had to do was wait for Fox to show up and they could get out of this hell hole, however they were beginning to get worried, Fox had been gone for awhile and he hadn't contacted the team since they departed. Falco began to pace left and right, keeping his gaze glued on the entrance door for even the smallest glimpse of the orange furred vulpine.

"Damn it Fox, I said no hero stuff."

His pacing began to accelerate as thirty minutes went by without any contact from Fox. Krystal tried to scan for his thought patterns but she was getting far too much interference from the other active minds of the remaining Imperial troops. Finally she couldn't stand it, she bolted out of the entrance to go search for her mate. Her ears flickered as she heard Falco and Slippy yelling after her, but she ignored them and continued her search. She ran back to the supply area and began scanning for any familiar brain patterns. She could hear many different thoughts going on through her head, focusing hard to try and separate them all from her loves.

_This place is going to blow, screw the ship; I'm getting out of here._

_Where the hell are the escape pods?_

_My leg, that damn fox shot my leg!_

_So… their really is a light…right…before you…_

_Great job Fox, you really stepped in it this time…sorry Krystal…I love you._

There it was! She could feel his though patterns, he was hurt badly. She ran for where she was sensing his presence, dodging crowds of Imperial troops running for the escape pods. She rounded a corner and found a lone Fox lying on the ground, clutching a bleeding wound on his left leg. She walked up to him and helped him onto his feet and began their way back to the landing platform where the rest of the team and their ticket out of here were waiting.

"How bad is the wound?"

"Not as bad as my pride feels."

He cracked a weak smile as they hobbled their way down the hallway. Fox's wrist began to emit a small beeping noise with a flashing red light. He looked down and saw a small readout of a time limit that was ticking down very quickly. His eyes widened, the charges were going to go off in less than two minutes. Sensing his worry, Krystal began to quicken their pace towards the exit.

Despite the pain in his leg, Fox quickened his hobbled sprint along with Krystal, hoping the exit was right around the next corner. To both their amazement, the door was right around the next corner; giving their thanks to the goddess for finally giving them a little luck, they dove for the door and out onto the platform. Falco and Slippy's eyes widened as they saw their missing teammates fly through the door way and helped Fox into his Arwing. With everyone situated, they began firing up their engines to make the jump out of the soon to be the galaxies worst place to be in. Fox looked back down at his wrist, thirty seconds until the ship would be a flaming ball of debris.

With the engines warmed up, he gave the signal to make the jump into open space and punched on the throttle. He gave one last glimpse at his wrist, ten seconds, it would be close. Time seemed to slow down around him; everything was being played out at an excruciatingly slow pace, the only sound that could be heard was his own heart beat. The seconds were ticking down in his mind; he closed his eyes and let fate decide what would happen next. Time resumed normal pace as an ear shattering explosion was heard from the cockpits of each mercenary's ships. Fox's eyes snapped open as he heard a voice on the comm. system of his Arwing; Krystal's furry blue face was displayed on the screen with a wide smile easily noticeable on her lips. Fox could only smile back at her and feel accomplished and relieved that the mission was a success, and that they were leaving with their lives still intact, but not without thinking about the situation that just transpired only a few minutes ago, he had nearly died in an explosion, as did his entire team, it was apparent that they were going to need extra help for these missions otherwise they would pay for it with their lives.

Fox thought back to what Pepper said about that bounty hunter friend of his, even if this Tex Hempioro was willing to help, would he be worth it? He looked back at the smiling blue vixen on his comm. system. _I would risk anything for your safety, _he thought to himself. He clicked a button on his Arwing's systems and opened up all channels to his teammates. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"I've been thinking."

"What about Fox?"

Krystal's expression changed to show great interest in what her mate had to say.

"That bounty hunter Pepper told us about, I want to give him a shot to see if he will be as much of an asset as Pepper said he would be."

"Whoa Fox, think about what you just said for a minute, a bounty hunter on this team, are we honestly going to trust this guy with our safety?"

Falco voiced his opinion yet again about the idea of a bounty hunter on the team.

"I can't believe these words are coming out of my mouth but I got to agree with Falco on this one."

Slippy for once was on Falco's side of the conversation. Fox continued with his brain storming.

"Pepper said that this one was different, I say we try him out, give him some small work and see how things go. Besides, when has the good General ever steered us wrong, eh?"

The team began to ponder the situation. Bring a bounty hunter into the team to help with the Imperial situation, sounded like a bad practical joke to them; bounty hunters couldn't care less what happened to Corneria, let alone the entire Lylat System, as long as their were criminals that the police force didn't want to deal with then the bounty hunters didn't care if the whole system was falling apart around them, but if what Pepper said was true, this one had morals, values, maybe even a sense of honor. Finally Fox came to a conclusion and began to contact General Pepper for help on contacting this Tex Hempioro.

* * *

_Authors Note: Now that I got all the slow stuff out of the way, I will start updating longer between chapters. First to wait and see if all you readers like the story so far and want me to write more, and second because I'm out of ideas for the next chapter right now. R&R_

_Tex_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Small establishment outside Katina's main city, 9:55 p.m. local time

The warm water that ran from the shower head felt good on his aching body. Tex turned the shower head so that it was set to the massaging setting, causing the streams of water to shoot out of the nozzle harder and faster in controlled bursts. The rhythm oh the streams reminded Tex of a semi automatic as the shower head continually shot out more controlled bursts of the damp projectiles to lightly pummel his shoulders. He may not have been hunting down any poor suckers that would have a price on their head, but he ached as if he had been working all week no matter what the circumstances, it was that damn left shoulder of his, at times he barely felt it and yet it would emit a crippling pain that would stop the lupine in his tracks; he always though that one of these days it would be the death of him, he would be in the middle of a gun fight only to crash down onto his knees and growl in pain, by then it would be too late to get back up and resume the fight.

He stepped out of the shower and shook the stray droplets of water off his moist fur. He looked at himself in the mirror as he always did, and grimaced at the sight of his heavily scarred face, also as he always did. The scarred areas on his face as well as the ones on his body were devoid of fur, making them easily noticeable to those who would most likely stare at him, _If only they made cloths for your face that didn't make you look like a thug_, he thought to himself, it wasn't that his face was ugly other than the scars, underneath those deep slash marks that marred his visage was a face that could probably make any young girl blush just by starring at them, but then again the harsh angry glare and dark looking frown didn't help his case much either, which made him feel strange that Marian would actually come up to him and engage in friendly conversation, even ask him to come see her again. He then strayed from his previous track of thought and began thinking about Marian, the cute little husky that was the closest thing Tex had to a friend other than his blasters and the knife his father gave him.

Why was she so kind to him, where others would turn their heads and walk away in fear of him? They always thought they turned away before he could see that they were trying to avoid his gaze but Tex saw it, he could smell the fear coming off those who were around him, he remembered when he was walking down the sidewalk one day and a stray soccer ball rolled in front of his feet, while a small pup walked up to him to get his ball back and like the good hearted person Tex was, he picked the ball up and handed it to the small child only to have his mother run up to him and lead him away from Tex. His face didn't show any emotion but inside it burned him up, he could hear the mother's whispered words as she leaded her son away from him, "_Don't you dare go near that man, do you hear me? He's dangerous"_ he balled his paws into fists as they started to shake from anger, but soon unclenched them and took a deep breath to stifle the fire that was growing inside his chest.

He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers and a pair of green plaid pajama pants. He slipped on his sleep ware and fell onto his bed like a timbering tree, burying his face into his pillow and letting out a deep sigh. He stayed like that for a few minutes; he didn't even bother to lift his face from his pillow to get a breath of fresh air._ Why the kindness Marian, why aren't you afraid of me?_ His ears perked up as he heard an annoying beeping sound that shook him from his thoughts, it couldn't have been his alarm clock; he was only laying there for a few minutes. He looked to where he was hearing the beeping sound and walked down the hallway to where his computer made residence. Just as he thought, the computer was the source of the noise and not only that but on the monitor was a display of a white envelope and the words "Urgent message from General John Pepper," hovered underneath it. He had gotten many messages from Cornaria, most of them were not the friendliest of kinds but never did he get one from Pepper directly, he thought about not accepting the message but his curiosity got the best of him and he at least owed the old hound a few words with, he did take him in when his father died after all. He pressed the accept button and General Pepper's face filled the monitor, along with the sound of trumpets sounding off to his presence on the screen. He was seated behind his desk with his hands folded in front of him; it was a defensive stance, apparently Pepper was preparing himself if Tex was going to be difficult.

"Tex, by the goddess you're one hard animal to find, how long has it been, eight years?"

Tex's face was still as if it were carved out of stone while he responded.

"Sounds about right, your looking well John, I almost began to worry about you when I heard the Aparoids invaded Cornaria."

He put a lot of emphasis on the word "almost" to make it sound like he didn't care if the old dog was alive or dead. Pepper winced at the subtle insult as well as being called by his first name instead of his title,seems Tex was still angry at him about what Cornaria did to the lupine all those years ago.

"You do know I am a general Tex, and you do know it's disrespectful to talk down to your superiors."

"Well John, normally I would call you by your rank but you don't have any authority over me, I denounced my citizenship when I left Cornaria so you're nothing more than an aging hound dog with a nice hat to me. So whatever you have to say to me you better say it fast or leave me alone."

The general let out a sigh and lightly shook his head at the tortured young mans disrespect.

"I thought your father raised you better than this Tex."

"Oh he raised me just fine, I respect women, I respect my elders, and I respect those less fortunate than me, what I don't respect are those who screw me over and try to arrest me for failure to follow orders given by a superior officer, which was exactly what you did, and you know damn well I had every right to not follow those orders, so I don't respect you nor should you deserve my respect so cut the shit and say what you wanted to say to me or we are done here."

His glare intensified, even though Pepper was only starring at a display on the monitor, the glare was beginning to make him feel very uncomfortable, what made him even more uncomfortable was that Tex knew what he was feeling, trembling fingers, shifty eyes, mouth hanging open slightly, all these small details told him everything, Pepper could swear those piercing gray eyes could see into his soul. He tried to straiten himself and continued.

"I guess I deserve that, but I didn't contact you to bring up those dark times of your past."

"No, you do deserve it, no guessing about it. And even though it wasn't your intention, you are bringing up the dark times."

"Tex, we need your help."

Tex remained silent.

"I know you would rather not help us but we are on the breaking point of another war."

Again he didn't respond.

"You know we cannot fight back another force, especially not one as large as the enemy we are facing now."

Tex crossed his arms and continued to stare at the general with an eerie silence.

"We ask you, no I ask you Tex, please all of Cornaria is at risk, the entire Lylat System is at risk; doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Like many of Tex's past targets, Pepper began to beg and plead. Tex cocked an eyebrow at this; he had never seen General Pepper so desperate for his assistance, it was…pathetic, a word most would never think of using in a way to describe the good general. Finally Tex responded to him.

"What are the details?"

General Pepper's face brightened slightly.

"Currently, the Star Fox team is trying to prevent the war from unfolding by sabotaging the enemy's supplies, machines, anything they could use against us, but they are having difficulty tackling such difficult missions with limited man power, their next mission will take them to one of the enemy occupied planets, it is an area rich with minerals and ores necessary to their war machines and ships, they will attempt to liberate it but they need more help, I ask of you Tex, will you assist the Star Fox team to help stop the Imperial forces? If you do, you can have your Cornarian citizenship restored as well as a full pardon for all your crimes against the C.D.F."

Tex took a moment to let the information sink in. Join Star Fox, help them save Cornaria, be able to come back to the planet unhindered and visit his father's grave again, start fresh with a clean slate and become a hero. It sounded like a dream, but he knew it wasn't, if it were a dream it wouldn't be as pleasant. His mind then wondered to another thing he might gain from this, money. Not that he needed it, he was getting a pretty steady stream of criminals to hunt down and the pay was pretty good, but extra cash was always nice, and with all of Lylat in peril they might pay very nicely, also the fact that he would be working with a team again, maybe he could have a good reputation working with McCloud and his mercenaries. He had experience with mercenaries before; they were a bit like him, they desire wealth, take on dangerous missions, and they like explosions, plus they would do almost anything for money, but the Star Fox team were different than most mercenaries, they would do the job and do whatever it took, but only as long as it wasn't illegal or goes against Cornaria. Tex turned back to the monitor to see a patient General Pepper waiting for a response.

"When do I get started?"

* * *

Great Fox, Sauria orbit, 8:04 a.m. local time

The bridge of the Great Fox was eerily quiet. Everyone was seated in their chairs waiting for their new arrival to show his face. Fox was seated in his captains chair staring at the automatic sliding door that would hopefully open soon to reveal their new temporary member, Krystal was standing next to him, starring at the door as well, Falco was pacing back and forth, looking out the window every now and then to see the lush green planet of Sauria floating out in the endless black void of space, Slippy was twiddling his webbed fingers impatiently. Falco stopped pacing and began to complain that he wasn't going to show up.

"The bum isn't going to show up, were just wasting time. A bounty hunter not showing up to help others whoa there's an eye opener."

Fox took his eyes off the door and looked in the direction of the blue falcon pacing back and forth.

"Complaining isn't going to make him arrive any faster Falco, why don't you do something constructive while you wait instead of pacing back and forth like that, its getting on my nerves."

The tall falcon stopped his pacing and sat in his chair with a loud groan that caused Fox to roll his eyes. Pepper said he would arrive around seven thirty, well it was already five minutes past eight and yet the good general claimed that this man was a professional, if this guy didn't show in the next ten minutes, they were going to call it off.

"Unknown vessel requesting permission to board the Great Fox."

ROB's monotone voice rang out. Falco sat up and looked out the window of the ship to see a lone stealth class fighter was floating outside the docking bay entrance. How was that possible, the sensor scope would have picked up his signal way before he could get that close to the Great Fox, even with a cloaking device, unless it was some special type of stealth class, but models such as that wern't even available to military staff, only the most elite of agents ever issued such fighters. Fox looked at the display readout on the computer where ROB was stationed at; sure enough a stealth class ship was waiting for permission to dock.

"Let me talk with him for a moment."

Fox pressed a few buttons on the computer and opened up a communication line with the owner of the ship.

"This is Fox McCloud of the Star Fox team, why do you request to dock here?"

The voice on the other side of the communication line responded in a deep gruff voice.

"I'm the bounty hunter that was sent here to assist you and your team, Mr. McCloud."

"ROB, give him permission to dock."

The robot responded with a nod from his head and informed the bounty hunter that he had permission to dock. Fox walked over to the door and looked over his shoulder to the rest of his team that were standing there.

"Well, let's go meet our new friend shall we?"

* * *

The team of mercenaries walked down to the ship that was readjusting to the conditions of the ship's docking area. With a small hiss from the atmospheric pressure escaping out of the sliding windshield, a very tall, muscular and heavily scarred wolf climbed out of the cockpit. He reached into his ship and pulled out two duffle bags and slung a large backpack over his right shoulder. He turned around to see the assembled group of animals staring at him. He walked up to the orange colored vulpine until they were only a few inches apart. If Fox were to stare strait ahead, his point of view would be at the lupine's mid section, he slowly looked up at the steel furred mountain that stood before him and cracked a nervous grin. The lupine blinked his bright gray eyes once and looked at the other animals that were present, he scanned the group until he stopped on Krystal; he heard that Star Fox had a Cerenian on their team but he had never seen one, and if the rumors were true, then this female would be the only one he would ever see. He could tell by the way her eyes kept looking back at the floor then back at him that he was making her uncomfortable so he directed his gaze back down to the orange fox he was towering over. He dropped his duffle bags and raised his paw to offer a hand shake to Fox, he looked at the offered paw and raised his orange colored one to meet the larger gray colored one. As he expected, the wolf's grip was strong and firm, but not so much as to hurt the smaller animals paw. Fox pulled his hand away and introduced himself and the rest of his team.

"Nice to meet you sir, I'm Fox McCloud, leader of the Star Fox team, this is Falco, our ace pilot, Slippy, our mechanic, and Krystal, our telepath, you must be Tex Hempioro, General Pepper informed us of your arrival and we greatful that you would assist us."

Tex glanced at the group of animals one last time and then responded to Fox with a nod of his head. Fox brows furrowed at the silent response he received, he didn't want to make this animal mad; he looked like he could break Fox in half if given the chance, and with all the scars, it shown that he could take a beating if it came down to a confrontation. Then in an unexpected move, the tall lupine spoke in his deep voice.

"Thank you, a pleaser to meet you as well, where will I be staying?"

His voice was just as intimidating as he was, gruff and harsh yet devoid of emotion.

"Uhh…yes well, I'd be happy to escort you to your quarters."

Before he followed Fox up to the bridge, Tex was stopped by a blue feathered hand in front of him. Fox sighed and slowly shook his head; he knew Falco was going to start something with this guy, not on account of his occupation as a bounty hunter, but the fact that it was some "fresh blood" to show who was boss and how to keep in line.

"Hey ya big guy, where ya get the beauty marks?"

Everyone's eyes grew large after Falco addressed the wolf's scars in a jokingly fashion. Tex blinked once and walked past Falco as if he wasn't even there.

"Hey railroad face I asked you a question."

The others gasped and Tex turned around to face the cocky blue avian. Though Falco was tall, Tex was still a good two inches taller.

"So, you gonna talk or you just gonna stand there and look ugly for all of us?"

He wore his trademark smirk and waited for a response from the mute lupine. As fast as a lightning flash, Tex moved his foot in front of Falco's and used an arm to push him into his black leathered boot, bringing Falco down to the ground with a loud thud that echoed off the metallic walls of the docking bay. Falco looked up from the flat of his back and just realized what happened, he was just taken down in less than a few seconds, the guy was big but damn could he move. Tex leaned over the fallen avian and stared down at him, and with a hint of humor in his voice responded to the blue feathered bird laying on the ground.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Lombardi, I can tell we are going to have quite the experience getting to know each other."

Then with a strong arm, he grabbed Falco by his collar and lifted him off the ground and onto his feet. He patted his paws on Falco's shoulder in a friendly matter and leaned in a bit closer to his face.

"And by the way, I got these beauty marks the day I died."

With that, he walked away towards Fox to follow him to his quarters while Falco stood there in bewilderment. _How the hell did he know my last name, and what does he mean about the day he died? _Falco's thoughts were soon interrupted by a small green frog standing next to Falco trying to stifle his laughter.

"And what's so damn funny?"

Slippy couldn't hold it in any longer and laughed out loud as he responded.

"You have no idea how much I enjoyed watching that, anyone who knocks you on your butt is ok in my book."

* * *

_Authors Note: Took me a bit longer with this one, sorry about that. My mind was completely devoid of any ideas on this chapter, I must have re wrote this chapter about four times before I felt satisfied with it. Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know I enjoyed writing it, and sorry to all you people who like Falco but him getting knocked on his ass was fun to write. R&R see you next update. _


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Great Fox, Sauria orbit, 8:35 a.m. local time 

It was cold, very cold, but being in a ship constructed entirely out of bone chilling metal could do that to you. Katina, being mostly warm desert caused Tex to feel rather chilly and out of place on the large vessel. Walking next to Fox down the hallway towards his new quarters, he continued to ponder if this was a wise decision, from what happened between him and Falco just a few minutes ago, he was about as welcomed here as a police officer at a high school house party. Fox looked down at the two duffle bags that Tex was carrying in each paw, curious to what was in them; Fox asked him about what the contents were of the bags.

"Just a few things I needed." Was all he would ever say.

Fox was still curious of their new member, if he was going to be a part of the team, even just temporary, they needed to know who he was and if he was trustworthy. The pair of military I.D. tags that hung around Tex's neck caught his eye, he wouldn't have thought Tex as a soldier, he seems too rebellious and unpredictable to be military. Fox looked closer at the tags and found that they didn't have the lupine's name and information on them; this caused Fox to display a look of confusion on his face.

"Umm…may I ask you a question?"

Tex's ears rotated to the direction of the voice and without making eye contact responded.

"Sure."

"Those dog tags around your neck, whose are they?"

"They were my father's tags."

"Oh your father was in the military too, what division?"

"He was in special forces."

"Cool, my dad was military for awhile until he quit and started Star Fox; is he retired?"

"You could say that."

"What does he do for a living?"

Tex thought about this question for a moment. He hadn't really seen his father in everyday life; it was always just military lifestyle for him, his mother too, while they would go off on missions Tex would stay at the orbital facility they were stationed at. He vaguely remembered his father as a mechanic for hover cars, he used to show him his oil covered uniform when he was a child since he was interested in mechanics when he was a pup. But he didn't stay in the mechanics buisness for very long since it was getting in the way of his military career. Tex shook himself from his daydreaming and remembered that the vulpine standing next to him asked him a question.

"He was a mechanic."

"Really, that sounds interesting. Sorry about all the questions."

"It's fine. And yeah it was interesting, he used to teach me mechanics when I was a pup since I was interested in it ."

"Where is he now if you don't mind me asking?"

Tex hesitated as he responded.

"…the Cornerian memorial veterans cemetery."

Fox froze and his eyes slammed shut; he thought he had just made a complete ass of himself.

"Oh…I'm sorry."

Tex's voice seemed to have developed a saddened tone to it as he spoke.

"It's alright, you didn't know, no harm done."

"I lost my father too, it was a real shock to me when I first heard about it, I understand."

Tex then looked strait at Fox and his normal emotionless voice returned.

"No, you don't understand, they say they do but in reality they don't mean it, and ill never understand how you felt when you lost your father. You sympathize but you don't understand, just as I sympathize but can't understand."

His words hit like a hammer, but he was right, no one did understand, Fox was the only one who could understand what it was like to lose his father because he was his son, much like his old friend Peppy, he lost a dear friend to him but he couldn't understand what it was like for Fox to lose his father, even though they both lost the same member of their family in similar ways, deep down it wasn't the samewhen he lost his father and when Tex lost his, and it never would.

"Your right, again I apologize, no one really understood what I went through when my dad died and I can't possibly understand what you went through when you lost yours."

"Sucks don't it? Is this my room?"

They both stopped in front of a metallic sliding door that bore no name on it. The guest room was as it was expected to be, empty. It used to be Krystal's room before she moved into Fox's quarters and took everything from here and placed it in there. All that was left was a small bed with a few folded blankets, a window, a dresser with a lamp on it, and a closet.

"It's not the greatest thing but at least the beds nice, do you need help unpacking?"

Tex walked towards the bed and dropped the two duffle bags and backpack on the floor. He raised his nose slightly and sniffed the air of his new room, then turned back to Fox.

"It will do fine, I've slept in worse conditions, and thank you for offering but I can unpack myself."

"Alright then, I'll be on the bridge if you need me. Oh almost forgot…

Fox walked up to one of the walls that had a small red button and pushed it, making a subtle clicking noise as a small section of the wall retracted to reveal a screen with more buttons attached to it.

"This here will display the map of the Great Fox, so if you need to find a specific place just look here. You can also call people on this if you want, just press this green button here and then punch in the number."

Tex looked at the screen that displayed a digital display of the Great Fox's interior; each room was labeled and easy to navigate, it also displayed the current locations of each team member including ROB. Tex had a feeling he was going to become very familiar with this device, seeing as how large and complicated the Great Fox looked.

"Thanks."

With that, Fox left Tex to start his unpacking and made his way towards the bridge.

Tex walked over to where his duffle bags were left on the floor and began his unpacking. He reached into one of the bags and withdrew all manner of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and accessories and began storing them in his closet space; until he felt like he could trust Fox and his team, he would store his weapons in his room instead of the armory. He pulled out one particular blaster pistol and stored it underneath his pillow, _always be prepared, _he thought to himself. His second duffle bag held his personal belongings, a few trinkets and keep sakes he accumulated during his missions and travels. A bullet with a name etched into it, a metal scrap from an armored vest, and a gold locket with a beautiful design imprinted onto its surface. He then pulled out a few pictures that he brought with him, most were only laminated except for one; the first picture he plucked out was one with him during his school days, the picture showed a fourteen year old Tex sitting with a few other animals at a picnic table in a park under a large oak tree, he had an arm around a badger's shoulder that was sitting next to him, his expression showed that he was laughing hysterically while the one seated next to him elbowed him in the side, a friendly smile on his face. Another photo showed Tex with a group of three other animals all standing in attention wearing military uniforms with the words "C.D.F. top graduates" above them. The next photo was probably one of his favorites; it was a strand of four black and white pictures that were taken in a photo booth at a theme park, Tex was seated next to a familiar looking female fox with long fiery reddish hair, in the first picture Tex is sticking out his tongue and making the devil horns sign with his fingers while Jenna had her cheeks puffed out and her eyes crossed, the second showed Tex with his hands behind his back and pretending he was asleep while Jenna had his red headband tied around her forehead and tired doing the best impression of Tex that she could, the third showed Jenna leaning over and giving Tex a big kiss on the lips while his arms flailed about and a startled expression on his face, and the forth and final picture showed a giggling Jenna still wearing his headband while an embarrassed looking Tex was starring at her, wide eyed. He then reached deeper into the bag and pulled out the only framed picture he had with him, it showed a very young Tex sitting on top of a very tall wolf's shoulders, a wide grin on his face and his hands covering the taller lupine's eyes causing him to laugh.

"Father..."

The memories flooded back to him. They came fast and hard that they bombarded his subconscious and filled his mind. Slowly they all began playing out in his head, back to as far as he could remember.

"_Dad, dad, your back, can we play?"_

_Tex jumped up and down as he followed his father back to his quarters on the orbiting space station. His father looked very tired, and walked very slowly to his bed and fell onto it with a sigh._

"_It's past your bed time little guy, and your old man needs to get some sleep."_

"_Aww, please dad, please, I was bored all day just sitting around, there isn't anyone else to play with in this dumb place."_

_His father started to snore loudly as he pushed his hat over his eyes._

"_Hey, wake up, c'mon dad please?"_

_Without warning, his father jumped out of the bed and grabbed Tex, pinned him to the floor and starting to tickle him relentlessly. Tex laughed and begged him to stop in between giggles._

"_Dad, heheheh, st-stop, hahahaha, I can't breathe!"_

"_Hey, you asked for it little guy so I'm giving it to you."_

_After about a minute or so he let Tex go and slumped back down on the bed, kicking off his shoes and threw his beret at the hook that was next to the door, which hit it and hung the military style hat onto it perfectly. With a sigh he closed his eyes and began to breathe steadier._

"_Did you brush your teeth?"_

"_Yep"_

"_Good boy."_

"_Can we play tomorrow?"_

"_Sure, I don't have much work tomorrow, now you need to get in bed, it's already ten little guy."_

"_But I'm not tired."_

_Tex then let out a big yawn and rubbed his eyes._

"_Yeah sure, now's bed time, tomorrows play time ok?"_

"_Ok, goodnight dad."_

"_Sleep tight little guy."_

More memories began to flood into his mind like a relentless storm, continuing to play out as if it were a movie.

_Tex ran down the hall towards the docking bay to go search for his father, the alarm system causing him to cover his sensitive ears. He heard the shouts and curses of the two combatants in the docking bay and watched as they both continued to parry and dodge and attack one another with their blades. Mark swiveled his head in Tex's direction and burned a hole into him with his gaze._

"_Run son, run, do you hear me, I said run!"_

_He then lunged for his opponent only to be parried and stabbed through the heart. The shadowy hyena withdrew his blade from his chest and wiped the blood off of his knife with a piece of cloth._

"_Do say hello to your darling wife for me when you see her." _

_And with that, the tall imposing animal dropped the bloodied cloth on the fallen wolf and walked away. Tex slowly crawled out of his hiding place and made his way to his father's fallen form. He was breathing hard; his eyes were glazed over and were becoming distant. He tilted his head so that he stared up at the face of his son whose bright gray irises were forming tears._

"_I told you to stay in your room."_

_His voice was quiet as a whisper._

"_I know, I'm really sorry dad, please…don't die."_

"_I'm sorry little guy…I want you to know…I'm very proud of you."_

_He lurched forward and gave a violent cough._

"_Here…I want you to have this."_

_He lifted his hand and pulled off his red scarf that was tied around his neck and handed it to Tex along with his knife._

"_My father gave this to me, and his father before him, now I'm giving it to you."_

"_Dad…please… don't go…you can't go…whose going to take care of me?"_

_Mark closed his eyes and slowly shook his head, hot tears streaming down his cheeks. With all the strength he had left, he lifted his hand to touch his son's face and wiped away the warm, salty waterfalls that fell from his eyes. Then he leaned closer to his ear and whispered his final words._

"_I love you son…I'll be sure to say hi to mom for you."_

_His eyes went cold, and his hand fell from Tex's face._

"_Dad…dad?!"_

_He didn't respond, Tex nudged his limp body but nothing happened, Mark Hempioro was gone._

* * *

Great Fox, Sauria orbit, 10:40 a.m. local time 

Tex's eyes snapped open and he gasped for air as he was violently awoken by his nightmares again. He must have dozed off while he was unpacking, he was feeling rather tired since he had not slept well in…well forever. He stood up from his bed and stretched his back, causing it to pop from stiffness. He looked back down at his bed to see the framed picture of his father and the small photograph of him and his teammate's graduation. A lone tear rolled down his scarred cheek and hit the mattress, causing a small damp spot to form on the sheets. He then picked up the pictures and placed them on the dresser and looked at them for a moment.

"I love you all."

He rested his forehead on the dresser for a moment, feeling the cold wood surface of it, then popping the stiff areas of his neck, he walked out of his room and headed for the bridge of the Great Fox.

* * *

_Authors note: I would like to thank all my reviewers so far for your kind words and your friendly advice, you make me glad to write this story. R&R and hope you all had a nice holiday. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Great Fox, Sauria orbit, 10:58 a.m. local time

The sound of fingers clicking against keyboard echoed through the bridge of the Great Fox. Fox had his face buried in his monitor for the past hour now, doing minor calculations for repairs, ammunition, and fuel, so far the bill to fix all this was not to his liking. The Imperials were taking a big chunk out of the teams' resources, they would have to continue to tread lightly and figure out new strategies to take them down; if they continued frontal assaults like this, there won't be a Great Fox much longer. Already the engines were dangerously low on fuel from all the traveling from star system to star system, the weapons systems were beginning to fry from over use, and those blast marks and crudely patched up holes on the ships hull were becoming more of a hassle than he thought.

Fox stopped typing on the keyboard for a moment to let his fingers cool down and sighed. He cracked his knuckles to try and loosen them up, only to make the blue vixen sitting next to him make a face of disgust. Krystal placed a blue paw on his orange one and began rubbing his knuckles.

"You keep cracking them like that and you won't have any left."

She always warned him about cracking his knuckles too much, and he always tried to make a joke out of it just to tease her.

"Hey, you should consider yourself lucky that's the only bad habit I have, it could be something worse, I know how much you just love the smell of cigarette smoke."

She made another face.

"If you start smoking then you're going to be sleeping on the couch, I can't stand that smell."

Fox then started to act out like he was smoking, which made Krystal lightly punch him on the arm. He chuckled and looked back down at the monitor. Falco rolled his eyes from where he was sitting then placed his hands behind his head and continued to "rest his eyes" as he put it, everyone knew he would fall asleep in a few minutes if you left him there. Slippy was busy working on a hunched over ROB, replacing and repairing all manner of devices in the open panel on his back, ROB was about as bad as the Great Fox was and in desperate need of an upgrade.

Fox looked up from his monitor as he heard the sound of the automatic sliding door open. Tex walked onto the bridge, looking about as cheerful as a rainy day, his fur color matched the gloomy, grey expression on his face. He headed over to the window that displayed the beautiful image of Sauria, orbiting around on it's axis at a rather high speed, but that was to be expected since the days on Sauria didn't last very long. Tex continued to stand in front of the window staring out at the endless darkness of space until he heard Fox address him.

"Hey Tex, get all your unpacking done?"

"Most of it."

Was all he said; Fox quirked an eye brow but decided not to bother Tex at the moment. He was strange to him, so quiet and so distant, he wondered if the lupine was not always like this, no one is born that way. For something to make Tex look like the world was coming to an end and to act like there was no point in living, it must have been quite the experience. Then he remembered that he told him he lost his father, maybe that was the cause of it, maybe he lost his father at an early age and didn't know how to handle it. Fox was thankful that Peppy was there to help him during the time his father died but maybe Tex didn't have anyone to help him. He didn't dare ask him about it, not now, from the stoic look on his face, the last thing he wanted to hear was someone else's sympathy. Tex continued to stare out the window for a long period of time, simply counting the stars and watching the large green and blue covered visage of Sauria float out in space.

The silence was broken as a loud beeping sound disturbed everyone's quiet thoughts. Fox looked down at his computer and read a display of letters that spelt out "Incoming message from C.D.F." He clicked on the accept button and General Pepper's face was displayed on the large monitor in the front of the bridge. With the subtle noise of the electronic trumpets that signaled his commanding presence, everyone drew their attention to the screen.

"General Pepper here, I have your new assignment ready for you, Star Fox."

"Finally!"

Falco woke up from his light rest and mouthed his excitement out loud, jumping out of his chair and giving his full attention to the general. Tex turned his head from the window to look up at the monitor that displayed the old hound's face, making no noise as he looked up at the face of the crimson clad canine.

"As in your past missions, I have sent you to disrupt the Imperials' supply lines, but now I have a new mission that will be having you hitting them where it hurts. You will be sent to a mining colony on the planet Crones in sector 4 of the Imperial space territory. The planet is rich with mineral deposits that is used to build and fuel many Imperial machines; as you might have already guessed, you will have to put an end to this, we cannot afford to have the Imperials' war machines up and running while Corneria is defenseless."

Fox scratched his chin in thought, and then added his response.

"Alright sir, but how do you suggest we take this place down? From our past mission, the Imperial's facilities are usually heavily fortified and secure."

"Our spies have given us information of the complex."

A digital read out of the entire colony was being displayed alongside General Pepper's image on the screen.

"The facility is supported by a series of cables and columns that run through the walls that surround it. It is suspended above a large magma chamber deep inside one of the many volcanic mountains of the planet; this location helps power the facility using the energy in the molten rock.

"Hang on a sec."

Falco held his hands in front of him, signaling the general to stop his discussion for him to respond.

"You're telling me, the colony is inside of an active volcano, one that could erupt at any moment? And your sending us in there?!"

"Yes it is inside of an active volcano, but thanks to the Imperial's creative innovations, you can rest assured that the volcano won't be erupting any time soon. It uses powerful drills to create a network of tunnels that control the flow of magma and reduce the stress that is building up inside of the volcano. Now, as I was saying, the facility is suspended above a large magma chamber to use for an energy source, if you were to disconnect the cables and damage the support columns that hold up the facility, the magma should destroy the colony on its own."

The mission sounded strait forward, but Fox had to ruin it with one question.

"Is the colony heavily guarded?"

"Yes, infantry and high level security systems guard most of the complex; also our spies have reported hostile wildlife activity inside of the volcano."

"Great, as if the Imperials weren't trouble enough, thank the goddess we have extra help."

"Speaking of which, how is Tex coming along?"

The wolf stepped forward as he heard his name being mentioned and responded to the general on the monitor.

"Hello, John."

Everyone on the bridge stared at Tex with wide eyes; they never heard anyone refer to General Pepper by his first name. The tension in the air was thick enough that it could be cut with a knife as the general and Tex continued to stare each other down.

"Tex; how is everything coming along so far?"

"It's been adequate; they even gave me my own room."

"I trust you will do your best to assist Fox and his team in this mission?"

"That depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Depends on how much you're willing to pay me for all this."

General Pepper resisted the urge to shout at the disrespectful lupine; instead he simply clenched and unclenched his fists to ease his anger. He cleared his throat and addressed Fox again.

"Well, Fox. I wish you and your team the best of luck on this mission, I hope you will all return successful."

He then turned back to Tex, who simply stared back at him without saying a word.

"And you will be paid what you are owed, so I suggest you make sure your doing your job right, am I clear?"

Tex glanced at Fox then back at the monitor.

"I'll expect my money to be delivered to me in Lylat credits after my assistance is no longer needed, and you should consider yourself lucky I even agreed to this job."

"I am your commanding officer here, and I will not be subjected to such disrespect."

"Well get used to it, Whether or not you were my commanding officer, I would still give you as much respect as you deserve, which is about as much as I would give a big pile of sh-

"Tex, thats enough!"

Fox held up his hand to silence the two arguing animals and talked quickly to end the awkward situation.

"General Pepper, I apologize for our teammate's disrespect and I promise you it will not happen again. Forgive me for changing the subject but can you give us the coordinates to planet Crones so we can be on our way?"

The general composed himself and began sending the coordinates to the ship's navigational system. As the download was commencing, an awkward silence filled the entire bridge. Fox looked back from the general to Tex, just waiting for any moment that another argument would erupt between them. After an agonizing long time, the download was complete and the coordinates were displayed on the navigational system screen.

"Thank you sir, we will get right on it."

Fox gave a salute to the general which caused Tex to roll his eyes.

"We are all counting on you and your team, Fox. Don't let us down."

The general then glanced at Tex with a stern expression and addressed him one last time.

"And I am counting on you to assist them to your best ability."

Tex walked up to the monitor and glared at the image of the aging hound dog, his voice equally as stern as the expression on his face.

"And I'm counting on you to give me my pay and that pardon you promised me."

"We shall see."

"Thanks. I'll see you on Corneria."

Tex then turned around and sat in an unoccupied seat. Before Fox cut the connection line, Tex gave the good general the parting gift of his fully extended middle finger as the screen turned black. He smirked when he witnessed the hounds' reaction before he disconnected. Fox shook his head and sighed as he witnessed the vulgar gesture.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Believe me, he deserves worse."

"I highly doubt that, Pepper isn't the kind of person to rub others the wrong way."

Tex ran his paw on the scar that trailed down to his chin, and then addressed the vulpine again.

"Ask him yourself next time you see him"

He then stood up and walked to the docking bay to get prepared for the mission, leaving all the other animals on the bridge to silently ponder what happened between him and General Pepper. Krystal's subconscious was bombarded by thoughts of the two animals. Some were serious thoughts, while Falco's idea of what happened between them was more practical than anything else. Her own thoughts on the subject were difficult to concentrate on one matter at a time. How could Pepper cause another animal such grief, while she herself had never once witnessed any selfish or dishonorable act from him? It was a difficult and delicate subject that would have to wait for another time. Right now they had a mission.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Corneria, C.D.F. building, 12:38 p.m. local time.

General Pepper sat reclined in his chair, gazing out the large glass barrier that separated him from outside the building. His head and heart hung low as he stared out at what was left of the once beautiful city of Corneria. The Aparoids were relentless, not leaving any building standing, not leaving any street corner unharmed, but what pained him the most was all the lives that were lost. The thought that all the mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters, that wouldn't be coming home to see their families weighed heavy on his heart.

His thoughts were disturbed as he heard a subtle knock on his office door.

"Come in."

He sighed and swiveled his chair in the direction of the noise and waited for the animal on the other side of the door to enter. A wolverine walked into the office with a few papers clutched in his claws and took a seat when Pepper gestured him to. He was breathing hard as he gave a salute and began to relay his report to the general with a shaking voice.

"Sir, I-I have here with me a report f-from our spies on planet Crones, sir."

"Calm down, son. Try to steady your breathing, and then tell me your report."

The wolverine quickly nodded and tried to take a few deep breaths. He was shaking terribly, and even his pale skin could be seen underneath his light grey and white fur. When he finally stopped shaking, he continued to speak with General Pepper.

"Forgive me, sir. I just came from the medical ward where they are caring for our spies that were stationed on planet Aldun."

"Well, what are their conditions?"

"Well, sir..., as you could probably have guessed from my reaction..."

"I see...so what is this report you have for me?"

The wolverine looked down at the papers he was carrying in his quivering paws, then looked back up at the brown canine and responded.

"It's about planet Crones, sir. While you were assigning that mercenary team to the planet yesterday, the spies from Crones returned here and were treated to their wounds that they received on duty."

"How are they?"

"They are fine, sir. Their wounds were only minor, but that isn't our primary concern."

"Then tell me, what is the problem, soldier?"

"Well, as you know, sir; The spies have returned from Crones and have given us vital intelligence on the Imperial's operations that are taking place on planet Crones, Aldun, Hossin, and the Capital Planet. The four spies that were disbanded to Crones have discovered information regarding each planet. The problem is that...only three returned from Crones, sir."

Pepper began rubbing his tired eyes and gave out a low sigh.

"And which planet's information is this missing spy holding for us?"

"The Capital Planet, sir."

He slammed his fist on the oak desk which caused the already startled wolverine to nearly jump out of his fur. Pepper composed himself and began calming the wolverine down a second time.

"What is your name, soldier?"

The wolverine looked up and responded with an uneasy voice.

"L-Lincoln, sir."

"Lincoln, thank you very much for your information on the situation regarding the planets, you will be receiving a promotion for the services you have offered to me today."

"Th-thank you, sir!"

"Can you tell me the name of this missing spy so that I may contact the Star Fox team to return him safely here?"

"Of course, sir; but it's not a he, it's a she. Victoria McCoy, she last reported in yesterday, a few hours ago at latitude 58, longitude 61, near the foot of the volcano that housed the mining colony. She is a wolf, about six feet tall, grey fur, and blue eyes. She also has white fur on her front and hind paws."

"Thank you, Lincoln."

The wolverine gave one final salute and walked out of General Pepper's office. He pushed a button on the intercom on his desk to speak with his secretary.

"Miss Andrews, can you please contact Fox McCloud for me?"

There was a pause from the other side of the intercom, until a small feminine voice emitted from the little black box on his desk.

"Of course, sir; right away. Is there anything else I can get you?"

"No thank you. Also, Miss Andrews, you may take the rest of the day off."

"Thank you, sir!"

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes again. He grabbed a mint from the small glass bowl on his desk and chewed on it for a moment until his connection with the Star Fox team was established.

"I'm getting too old for this."

* * *

Crones, mining colony detention block 3, 12:38 p.m. Corneria standard time.

Footsteps echoed down the dark hallway of the detention block. The three Imperial soldiers stopped in front of a black metallic door that belonged to a holding cell that held their valuable prisoner. The highest rank of the three punched in a number code on the panel and the door slid open, revealing a bruised and blood stained female wolf sitting in a corner with her head laying low. The two other soldiers stepped back while the higher ranking officer walked over to the broken wolf and kneeled down to examine her. She slowly raised her head to see who had walked into her cell, slumping back down as she recognized her guests.

"Is that any way to greet your friends?"

The large coyote chuckled, speaking perfectly in the Lylat language. He clutched the side of the wolf's face, turning it slowly from side to side, examining each angle of her delicate features. He pulled out a small cloth and dabbed it in some water from the canteen he carried with him and began gently cleaning the dried blood off her face.

"There, that's better now isn't it? Such a beautiful face shouldn't be marred with all this filth."

She tried to jerk her head away but she was too tired and sore to do anything but give an angry glare with her fierce blue eyes. She began breathing hard from rage and her ears lay flat on her head but she couldn't do anything to ease the anger that was boiling inside her. So she did the only thing she could do, she gathered up as much saliva as she could in her dry mouth and spat on the lieutenant's face. He reared back and wiped the bile off his face with the moist cloth.

"Now, now, there is no reason for that."

He quickly grabbed her neck, raised her off the floor and shoved her against the wall. He tightened his grip and watched as she tried to wiggle out of his grasp, coughing and gasping and kicking until she went limp. He let go of her neck and let her fall to the floor. She crumpled down on the cold, hard surface, holding her neck and began a fit of coughing. She sucked in as much air as she could and leaned up against the wall. The Imperial officer gently stroked her cheek and spoke softly into her pointed ear.

"Tell me what Corneria is planning with this new mercenary team."

She remained silent.

"Tell me!"

He growled. She continued not speaking and instead massaged her sore neck.

"Tell me what Corneria is planning or you will be spending the next few weeks in the pits."

Her eyes widened at the mention of that word. The pits, such a horrible place; if there were ever a place that came the closest to hell; the pits would be that place. It was constructed for mostly just law breakers or individuals that got out of line for the police force to quickly throw in and not deal with the extensive paper work. But it soon converted into a makeshift torture chamber; individuals would be stripped naked, beaten, drowned, whipped, electrocuted, any type of cruel way to inflict pain, and then thrown into a small, pitch black room for weeks on end with almost no food, and very little water. She shook at the thought of going to that place. The torture she could handle, she was trained to handle almost any physical torment. But the pitch black room, that was different. The darkness and the pain from hunger and thirst, it could break anyone. She softly spoke into the coyote's ear with a cracking, quivering voice, doing her best to remain strong.

"You'll get nothing from me."

She slumped back against the wall and closed her eyes, waiting to get abused again. To her surprise, the Imperial officer only walked back towards the door and signaled the other two soldiers to leave the room. He then turned back to the beaten lupine and leaned close to her face.

"No, my lovely Victoria; I'll be sure to get plenty once I'm finished with you. So until then, sleep well and dream pleasant dreams."

He then sifted his clawed fingers in her hair and walked out of the room. The door slid shut with a loud hiss, leaving Victoria to her silent thoughts. She slammed her eyes shut as she felt hot tears forming. They rolled down her cheeks and began to dot the cold floor underneath her. She raised her head up to the small light bulb that was suspended above her and whispered just one word in hope that the goddess might hear her.

"Help."

* * *

Crones, planet's surface, 12:40 p.m. Corneria standard time.

The planet's surface was completely barren, devoid of any plant life or water source. The five animals that made up the Star Fox team began setting up a base camp for their next operation. The smell of brimstone and charcoal began to sting the nostrils of an orange colored fox that was busy setting up a small shelter. Fox sighed and looked down at his work with approval; the tent was securely set up and ready to use. With his task finished, he looked over at his teammates who were doing similar jobs to get the base set up. Slippy was getting all the technical equipment set up and ready for use, while Krystal was getting all the supplies and first aid equipment out and sorted, and Falco was setting up another tent, getting frustrated at the pile that was the tent, and shouting his colorful vocabulary at the un cooperating camping gear. Fox shook his head with a chuckle and looked over to see that Tex had already finished his preparations and was staring out at the planet's surface. Fox walked over to him and stood beside the tall lupine with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Sure is empty, isn't it?"

"That's because everything is underneath."

He answered. Fox raised his brows but decided not to retort to the lupines emotionless response. Fox glanced up at Tex who was continuing to stare out at the horizon, as still as a statue; he mentally chuckled at the thought that the wolf would actually make a good lawn statue; he was already the right color for the occupation. Tex had taken off his heavy trench coat and replaced it with a light blue flight jacket that stopped right above his waistline, so as not to limit his mobility or run the risk of damaging the expensive coat while out on the field. He also wore polished armor plates on his chest, back, knees, and shins that clipped on top of his boots. Fox had never seen him in combat before, but he could already get the feeling that this wolf would be formidable; it wasn't just his size, or the fact that he had enough armor to withstand an RPG at point blank range, no it was the two deadly looking blaster pistols that he had strapped under his arms that were hidden from view under his jacket, and the sinister looking combat knife and a large magnum class blaster that could blow a hole through steel were easily seen on his belt as a warning sign to back off.

Tex could feel that the fox he was standing next to was staring at him so he swiveled his head in the vulpine's direction.

"Is there something wrong?"

Fox blinked once but soon responded to the wolf.

"No, no, just admiring your hardware. Must have set you back a few credits for all of it, I mean those aren't your typical blasters."

"You know about blasters?"

"You're talking to a mercenary here. Those two pistols you got in your jacket are modified with a nice speed rig; I bet you could reload both those things in half a second. Plus the heavy cylinder boring kit that'll give ya more damage per shot, and correct me if I'm wrong but I couldn't help notice you got an upgrade plugged into those babies for reduced recoil."

"Correct, you know your guns, I'm impressed."

"Don't get him started."

Krystal's voice piped in from afar; the two animals turned around to see her walking towards them. Tex glanced down at Fox to see that his eyelids lazily drooped down, a love sick look clearly on his face; he could also hear the vulpine's increased heartbeat with his highly developed sense of hearing. She walked over to Fox and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, bringing herself closer to him. Tex watched the public display of affection between the two foxes with slight interest; but soon looked back towards the horizon as the scene only began to bring up more painful memories. Krystal kissed Fox on the cheek and stood next to him, joining them in watching the bright orange sky of the planet. The silence was broken as Krystal began speaking.

"You shouldn't talk about guns around him, you even mention one little thing about them and he will go on for hours. Luckily I caught him before he got too far into it or you would be stuck in a six hour conversation with him."

"Hey now, I'm not as bad as you think, I could stop the conversation at any time if I wanted too."

"Of course, darling."

She giggled as Fox let out a sigh of defeat and simply wrapped his arms around her. Krystal looked back towards Falco who was on the verge of blasting holes in his disassembled tent and walked over to give him assistance. Fox watched her leave with that same look of admiration on his face, and then turned back to Tex.

"So, about that cylinder kit..."

"You really are as bad as she says you are."

"So sue me, I like to talk about a subject that I actually have knowledge about. Trying to talk with Slippy only makes my head spin, and all Falco talks about is flying this and flying that."

"There's Krystal."

"We talk about everything, but she's not interested in weapons. Aw well, they're still family."

There was a long pause. The only sound that could be heard was Falco's loud shouting and Krystal trying to prevent him from doing anything brash. Finally Tex spoke.

"You really love her, don't you?"

"Yeah, she's the best thing that ever happened to me. I love her to death."

"I can tell you two have good chemistry. Never let her go, Fox. You're a very lucky person to have someone like her."

Fox stared at Tex with a confused look on his face. He tried to read the wolf's facial expression to see where he was going with this conversation, but the lupine's face was still the same old frown and cold stare. Fox inhaled a breath of air and swallowed down his fear to ask Tex on a delicate subject of his life.

"Have you ever loved someone?"

He glanced at Fox, then stared back out at the horizon and responded to his question.

"Once..."

"What Happened?"

Tex was about to speak when he was interrupted by a loud beeping sound coming from behind the two animals. They both turned around to see Slippy talking into the communications radio he had finish setting up. Fox walked over to Slippy and knelt down to the radio to hear who was speaking.

"Who is it, Slippy?"

"It's General Pepper; he needs to talk with ya."

Fox placed the headphones on his ears and spoke into the radio.

"Fox, here."

"Fox, this is General Pepper, I have an update on your mission. Are you on the surface? I'm getting a lot of interference."

"It's probably the asteroids, sir. What's the update on the mission?"

"We have received reports that one of our spies on Crones has gone missing. She is carrying vital information on the Imperial's operations that are taking place on the Capital Planet. We cannot afford to lose her and this information. We need you to locate her and return her to Corneria as soon as possible."

"Of course, sir. We'll find her and return her to Corneria as soon as possible. Give us her name and description, and we will look for her. There is a safe bet she's at the colony."

"Her name is Victoria McCoy. She is a wolf of approximately six feet tall, grey fur, white fur on her front and hind paws, and blue eyes. She will most likely tell you who she is when you meet her. Remember, Fox; she is very important to us, she must return to Corneria alive. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. We won't let you down. Fox out."

Fox cut the connections line and placed the head phones in Slippy's webbed fingers. As he relayed the message to everyone, he noticed that Tex appeared very interested on this new subject. He raised a paw to get the vulpine's attention for a moment.

"Is there something wrong, Tex?"

"No, I'm just requesting that I find this missing person while you four are ensuring the destruction of the colony."

"But Tex, we need everyone to make this work. You were sent to us to help."

"And I am helping; by taking on this mission while the rest of you are destroying the facility. I have experience in infiltration and rescue operations, but demolition is not one of my specialties. Let me find this spy, I'll be of more help to you in that way, and you don't have to worry about finding this woman. You can have your full attention on the situation at hand, and get the mission done twice as fast so we can leave this planet, she can give that dog her information, we can destroy the Imperials faster, we can all get paid, and I can get on with my life and be out of yours."

Falco walked up to Tex and roughly placed a feathered hand on the taller animal's shoulder.

"You're starting to forget your place, scar face. Fox gives the orders and you follow them, not the other way around, ya got that?"

Tex looked down at the blue hand that was placed on his shoulder, and then stared strait at the feathered appendage's owner.

"Take your hand off me."

His voice was stern and hinted that there would be trouble if the avian didn't respect his wishes. But Falco being Falco, kept his hand firmly on the lupine's shoulder.

"That wasn't a request. Take your hand off me."

"And what if I don't? Ya gonna try some more of that Kung foo of yours on me?"

"First of all, it's not Kung foo, its CQC, a standard form of close quarters combat, not martial arts. And secondly..."

Tex pointed at the bird's stomach, telling him to look down which he did. The blue bird's face showed a look of confusion as he was staring at what appeared to be a small red dot on his shirt. His eyes grew wide as he realized that the dot was connected to a beam of light, which was being emitted from the barrel of a blaster that Tex held securely in his hand.

"This is your third and final warning. I'll give you five seconds to take your hand off me."

Before he said one, Falco let go of his shoulder and slowly backed up a few steps. Tex turned off the laser sight and replaced the weapon where it was hidden in the fibers of his jacket. Falco was shocked, he didn't even see the animal move at all, and he wondered how long the lupine was aiming at him before he noticed. Tex looked back at the crowd of animals that were staring at him and Falco then walked up to the avian and quietly spoke to him.

"The next time I have you in my sights, my finger just might pull that trigger. I have it set to stun, but when were inside that colony, the stun goes off, ya got that?"

He made a mocking attempt at adding cockiness to his voice as he ended his last statement. Then walked back to his ship and began gathering supplies for the mission that he volunteered for.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Crones, mining facility detention block 3, 1:35 p.m. Corneria standard time

_Perhaps it is fate that I'm here_, Agent Victoria McCoy kept thinking to herself._What if I was meant to be here at this specific time? _She continued to think these thoughts so as to try and forget the sorrowful truth of what really happened. She was captured, they were torturing her, and they wouldn't stop until she gave them what they wanted to hear. But she would die before she told them anything important.

The female lupine's stomach gave a soft groan as it cried out for something to eat; unfortunately I would not be getting its wish anytime soon. She wondered how long she had been locked in here. How long were the days on Crones anyway? Did her teammates report her missing yet, and is someone coming to rescue her? So many questions, each one swirling in her mind like a cyclone.

She was beginning to think she would never be saved. Maybe if she just lay down and curled up into a ball and died it would be easier. It would be so nice if it were that simple, to fall asleep and just stay that way. She knew that wouldn't happen but she curled up into a ball and tried to fall asleep, just to try and forget the noises, the smells, and the pain for just a moment.As she slept, she did something she hadn't done in quite some time. She dreamed.

_The smells, they were magnificent. But what had her in awe was not the smells, but the sights. Steak, fish, pork, chicken, fruit, vegetables, mountains of food all laid out on a polished oak table. There Victoria stood, in a much nicer formal dress than the tattered stealth suit she was wearing. Her hair flowed down like a waterfall that ended at her lower back. She didn't know where to begin, everything was perfect. As she approached the table, three well dressed servants came to her aid and began to get her situated. One pulled out a chair for her, another poured her a glass of wine, and another set the utensils and folded the napkins in an elegant pattern._

_She decided to start with her favorite, a large slab of salmon. Its heavenly scent made her nose tingle and her mouth water. As she savored the rich, spiced, and slightly lemon flavored fish, another servant came up to her and addressed her in a rich and deep voice._

"_May I get you anything else, Miss McCoy?"_

_Victoria looked up from her plate to see a tall, steel furred lupine with neatly trimmed head fur and intense grey eyes. She continued to stare at him for a moment. He was very attractive, especially with those gorgeous eyes, like two moons floating in a clear night sky. She soon caught herself and responded to the male wolf, embarrassed that she was staring at him._

"_Um, no thank you, everything looks delicious. My compliments to the chef."_

"_Why thank you, Miss. I was worried you wouldn't like it."_

_She looked back up at him with wide eyes._

"_You made this?"_

"_Why yes."_

"_It's amazing! So you're a chef and a servant as well?"_

"_Well I'm more along the lines of a director than an actual servant. Your parents hired me for this party. And thank you very much for complimenting my work."_

_The man had good looks and could cook. It was almost too good to be true. What's next, is he a genius with money and a nice car? She chuckled to herself and continued to feast on her salmon, occasionally glancing up to see the handsome chef assisting other servants. She took a sip of the wine. Aged just the way she liked it. Most of her family liked the more expensive wine that was aged for an ungodly amount of years but she had developed a taste for the less expensive kind. As she finished her last slice of steak, cooked exactly how she liked it, the cook took her plate and addressed her to the ball room where the rest of the guests were located. The three servants began cleaning the table and prepared it for when it will be used again._

_She sat in the ball room, a fire blazing in the background, filling the large room with a comforting orange glow. There were groups of other animals, business partners of Victoria's father by the looks of things. Music was playing at a slow, steady pace. The melodic rhythm of the violins beckoned her to the area for those who would want to dance. She stopped as she realized that she had no one to dance with, until she heard a familiar deep voice from behind her._

"_May I have this dance?"_

_She turned to see the tall wolf with the blazing silver eyes that she adored. She took his offered hand and they were led to the dance area. Arm around her waist and her hand clasped in his, they both slowly moved to the music in perfect unison. He even knew how to dance, he was like a dream, this was all like a dream actually. Everything was perfect...well almost. She stopped moving which caused him to do the same. She looked up to his face that towered above her. She looked into those beautiful grey orbs and balanced on the tips of her toes to try and reach his lips. He saw what she was trying to do and bent down lower to her face. They slowly neared each other's muzzle as she closed her eyes and waited for her lips to press against his._

Victoria's eyes snapped open as her sleep was disturbed by a loud...well she didn't know what it was really. It sounded as if a bomb went off inside the facility, but the Imperials weren't stupid enough to carry explosives in this place. The heat would be a risk of detonating grenades or charges. So what was that noise that tore her from what could have been the most wonderful dream she had, and at the best part of it as well. Maybe just another form of torture the Imperials were implementing on her, periodically causing loud noises to prevent her from getting sleep. She let out a sigh of grief and curled back up into a ball on the hard floor. She didn't bother to sleep; it was just going to be disturbed again. She looked down at her cloths. The tattered, black fabric of the stealth suit was all she had left of her uniform. They even took her specially designed boots that were crafted to not make a sound, or even leave foot prints as you walked in them. Most of the suit was ripped away, leaving her insufficiently covered. Yet another sick game the Imperials played on her. She would have been completely stripped if the Lieutenant hadn't ordered his brute squad to cease with the barbaric behavior of ripping pieces of clothing off her.

She sat there, curled in a ball. All hope for her rescue and survival was quickly evaporating like the small puddles of blood she left behind from her most recent torture session. But by some unknown reason, she still held a small chance of hope. She was after all holding valuable information for Corneria. This only made her angry at the fact that Corneria was more interested in the information than her life as far as she knew.

* * *

Crones, mining facility interior, 2:31 p.m. Corneria standard time

"Holy hell, Slippy! Were trying to open a door, not blow half the base with us inside!"

"What?!"

"I said; take it easy on the charges!"

"What?!"

Slippy placed a webbed hand to the side of his head, trying to focus on what Falco was saying to him. A few moments passed and the toad's hearing began to return.

"I said; your gonna kill us all, dumbass!"

"Relax. I know exactly what I'm doing. See the doors open."

"Yeah, and now the entire base probably knows were here."

"I doubt that. These walls are pretty thick."

"Yeah, like your head."

"Shut your beak, Falco, I know what I'm doing!"

"That's enough!"

Fox's voice rang out over all the other noise, silencing the two arguing mercenaries. Krystal merely shook her head and giggled. Tex wiped off the black soot that was collecting on his jacket. Fox quickly looked through the newly opened passage. When he saw that there were no hostiles, he signaled the rest of the team that it was all clear.

The facility was dark, and reeked of sulfur. A subtle rumbling could be felt underneath the floors, possibly the mining drills that were digging deep inside the volcano's interior. First thing that needed to be done was acquire readouts of the facility to find the weak areas that would bring this place down, while Tex would search for this missing spy. They soon reached a hallway that branched out in two different directions. Along with signs that were placed to help navigate these hallways, there was also a snack machine and a water cooler.

Falco walked up to the snack machine and pressed a button that would select what he wanted. The machine buzzed in defiance and displayed a read out that stated that there was an insufficient amount of money for that selection.

"Anybody got any change?"

Slippy fished around in the many pockets of his uniform and pulled out a few credits. He inserted them in the slot and clicked a button. The machine buzzed again and spat out the credit.

"Hey, what gives?"

"Thing must be busted. Stupid Imperial crap."

Falco gave the snack machine a kick and placed the money back in, only for it to be spat back out. He looked more closely and found that the machine didn't take that form of currency. "Please deposit twenty-five Imperial credits," were displayed in glowing red letters.

"Ok, anybody got Imperial money?"

Tex rolled his eyes and walked up to the machine. He wanted to get a move on quickly, so he pulled out a credit that looked similar to the credits Slippy had, only this one was red in coloration, and had the symbol of a small fist, grasping a large hammer on it. The credit had a string tied to it so that it could be re used. Hopefully this machine didn't have a security failsafe that would detect the string. He slipped the credit into the slot and quickly pulled it out with the string and placed it back into his pocket. The machine beeped in acceptance to the credit and Tex pushed a button. A small bag filled with candy fell into the bin and Tex pulled it out and tore the top off. He poured a few jellybeans into his hand and gave the rest of the bag to Falco.

"Enjoy."

Was all he said. He popped a few into his mouth and walked over to where Fox and Krystal were attempting to translate the direction signs.

Fox was starring intently at the signs. He was still practicing the Imperial language and was having trouble reading the words. Krystal, having been a linguist on her home planet, had little difficulty translating the language. The language was rather simple, bits and pieces of other languages, some new, some ancient. Maybe they were a nomadic people before they settled in this galaxy and created their own government. Taking bits of other languages in their travels with them.

She helped Fox to translate what each sign said. Just as they thought, these signs were directions to areas of the facility. The left direction took you to the commons, which then branched out to the maintenance area, and the main energy refinery. The right took you to the security office, which then branched out to the main drilling platform, and the detention blocks. Tex had already decided which way he would go. A missing Corneria spy would most likely turn up in the detention block if they were poking around here.

He switched off the safety switch of his pistols and turned to Fox.

"I'll be heading this way. I'm sure she's in the detention block."

Fox looked back at him, and then nodded in agreement.

"Alright, Tex. Well be heading for the refinery. Be careful or this mission is a bust. Plus, you have this spy's life in your hands."

"Be back in a minute."

With that, he turned around and darted down the hallway to the detention block. Fox's ears twitched as he heard the voice of Falco behind him.

"Did you know he had Imperial credits?"

"No idea, he sure is full of surprises."

"You think maybe he's one of them?"

"I doubt it. He doesn't act anything like an Imperial. And we would have noticed something from studying the Imperial's actions."

"You might be right, but I still don't trust the guy."

"This is his first mission with us, lets see how he does and we can work from there."

"Doesn't sound like a very solid plan ya got there bud, but I'll stick by it. Haven't steered us wrong yet."

The avian gave his friend a hard pat on the back and walked down the opposite hallway Tex just ran into. The vulpine's mind was filled with possibilities of this mission. Tex seemed trustworthy enough, but why he carried around Imperial brand credits Fox had no clue. He would have to ponder this later, for now he had to focus on his objective, bring this facility down.

As he walked down the hallway, the stench of sulfur and brimstone seemed to intensify. They must be close to the exhaust systems, lovely. His eyes watered and his nose itched and burned and felt as if it were plugged up by ash. If only they had brought breathing masks. The commons were close by. Fox could hear collections of voices from the other side of the walls. Of course he had no idea what they were saying, but thanks to Krystal's telepathy, she could understand perfectly. He estimated five Imperials inside the commons area; each one seemed to be pretty distracted. Their speaking tones told Fox that they were talking about something rather inappropriate, along with Krystal gasping after reading their thought patterns. He placed a paw on the door handle and signaled the rest of his team to get into position. He held up three clawed fingers and slowly dropped them, counting down the seconds until they would strike. When the last finger dropped, he tore open the door and shot three blasts. Slippy threw in two grenades as Fox slammed the door shut. Two loud blasts, along with a collection of pained screams told the mercenaries that they had cleared the room.

With the commons cleared, they proceeded to the refinery. Hopefully it was the right place to be, not that they had to be precise, these charges could blow an asteroid the size of the Great Fox in half. He just hoped that he wasn't sending his team in the wrong direction and more unnecessary risk.

* * *

Crones, mining facility interior, 2:31 p.m. Corneria standard time

"Be back in a minute."

Tex ran down the hallway, leaving the group of animals behind him and out of sight as he turned a corner. The stench of the volcano's interior was stronger here, he didn't mind though; the smell of sulfur wasn't as bad as people usually said it was. They said it smelled of rotten eggs, which was total crap, it smelt more like charred meat, or burning gas of some kind. He dug his boot heels into the floor to stop his sprinting and he glued himself to the wall. He put a hand to the ear that had a notch in it that he got from the claw of some large green lizard that wore a horned helmet he met while he was on Sauria. That lizard sliced his ear and his arms up pretty good but Tex cut off the lizard's hand. Pay back sure is a cruel thing sometimes. He could hear voices from around the corner. The Imperial language wasn't anything hard to understand, but these two had the worst speaking voices Tex had ever heard. The one on the left sounded as if he had finished drinking a glass full of rusted nails, and the other sounded like a key scratching against a car door.

"I heard these mercs got to our cargo ships in sector four."

"Don't worry; the emperor makes sure we got plenty of this shit for the war effort."

"I also heard they got some new guy working for them."

"Just rumors, privet, keep your mouth shut!"

"Don't gotta get mean, just sayin' what I heard. I mean we probably got nothin' to worry about here, but what about our buddies in open space?"

"Not my fault those shit heads decided to join the fleet instead of infantry."

"Hehe, guess they'll think twice before calling us meat heads, if there are any still alive."

"Man, any faggot fleets call me anything I don't like, I'll make sure they wont be flying for one hell of a-

A blaster shot laced out and tore a hole in the guard's head before he had time to finish his last sentence. The smaller one, an armadillo, spun around and raised his blaster, only for his hands to be blown off and knocked onto his back from another shot in the shoulder. Tex walked up to the still breathing armadillo on the floor and starred down at him with glowing grey irises. He lifted the guard up by his neck with one hand and held him above his head.

"Where is the woman?"

The armadillo simply twitched and shook from the pain in his arms and shoulder. Tex pulled out his knife and held it under the soft skin of the armadillo's neck.

"I'm not asking you. Tell me or I'll make things a lot more difficult for you."

"D-don't kill me, please!"

"Fool, you're already dead, now I can make it quick or I can make it worse, your choice. Where is the woman?"

"...Detention block number three."

"Thanks."

He sheathed his blade and simply blew a hole in the animal's heart. Dropping the limp body, he continuing on his way to detention block three. His ears twitched at the sound of gun shots and two small explosions. Sounds like Fox and his friends are having fun. He walked a few paces until he thought about what he just did, it was horrible...he should have used his knife and hands; it would have been much quieter. All this time spent without stealth training made him almost forget the first property of infiltration and stealth, guns are a last resort. He replaced his blasters into the holsters in his jacket and pulled out his knife. His paws were clad in his fingerless leather gloves, incase he had to use his claws for when things got up close and personal. He looked at his reflection in the gleaming sliver of the blade and continued his mission for this Victoria McCoy.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Crones, main control room, 3:05 p.m. Corneria standard time

"What, in all that is holy is going on?!"

The Lieutenant slammed his tan furred fist on the desk, leaving a small dent in it as he lifted his paw from it. He panned his gaze from left to right at the assorted animals that were bustling around the control room, clicking buttons, turning knobs, and glancing at surveillance displays. One screen caught his eye; on the far left he could see a tall steel furred animal quickly dispatch guards with lightning speed and proficiency. For the most part, he was simply tackling, throwing, or breaking their necks or target the weak areas of the body such as the nerves or the pressure points and attack with some sort of martial arts. Occasionally he would see the gleam of a blade being unsheathed and as quickly as the gleam appeared, it disappeared back into the sheath as a guards body fell to the floor.

"Interesting."

The coyote replied in the smooth accent of his native language. He preferred to speak Lylat as he found it much more pleasurable to the ears, but not many other soldiers knew the language. He tapped on the shoulder of a surveillance worker with a long clawed finger and pointed to the camera screen.

"Who is this man? He wasn't with the mercenaries on my last report. That is, unless one of you gave me the wrong information."

He bared his pearl white fangs at the staff worker who timidly looked away from the officer and addressed his question.

"Well sir, as you can see, he doesn't carry the title of mercenary. We aren't sure who he is, but with the combat techniques we've seen him performing, it's a safe bet he's an agent."

"An agent hmm? I want to know who he is, now!"

The dull sound of fingers clicking against keyboard soon filled the pointed ears of the coyote, as the staff worker was busy looking through files of some of Corneria's top soldiers. He looked into Special Forces, elite Special Forces, then covert ops, nothing turned up on an animal that fit this wolf's description. The Lieutenant then thought of an idea. He pushed the mouse that was at the keyboard out of the way and pulled up a file that was strictly classified. Nothing he couldn't handle, where these so called "big brains" would have taken hours to hack into such a complex security system, it only took him a few moments. Files that were usually punishable by death to simply look at were clearly displayed on the computer screen.

"Lets see now. Cybernetic enhancement program, energy diffusion mechanisms, ah, here we are, G.H.O.S.T. program. That sounds interesting."

He clicked on the desired file and soon, four photographs of a different assortment of animals were displayed with their files and information. There was a fox, Jennifer Cross, an ocelot, Robert Kane, a lion, Corbin Defoe, and a wolf, Tex Hempioro. Tex Hempioro, so that's who this mystery animal was. No wonder he was able to dispatch the soldiers so quickly, he was an experimental super weapon that, by the looks of things, seemed to be a success. G.H.O.S.T. operatives or genetic, high-performance, onsite, stealth, troops was a program that took soldiers of incredible skill and talent, modify them with genetic and cybernetic enhancements, and train them in stealth combat and assassination, as well as specific equipment.

Amazing, simply amazing. He never would have thought that Corneria would have the technology, let alone the balls to do something like this. He looked up the files of each animal; the most interesting was probably Tex's. Of each Ghost, he was the youngest to ever be put into the program, and what was even more interesting was that he received no genetic or cybernetic enhancements, just the advanced physical and mental training. Only eighteen years of age and already he surpassed requirements for the rank of general. He was incredibly intelligent, which was why he was chosen as the ghost teams tactician and strategist. He was also physically powerful, it was recorded that he was able to pry open reinforced steel doors with his bare paws.

"The perfect soldier..."

The coyote whispered as he looked back up at the screen where he witnessed Tex dispatching yet another guard with his knife.

"Interesting...he uses an edged blade instead of an energy one."

Most conventional knives were replaced with the energy blades, but this wolf seems to prefer the traditional steel edged, leather gripped knife.

"Interesting..."

"Um, sir?"

The Lieutenant quickly turned to see the mouse standing behind him. He slowly rose from the chair, keeping constant eye contact with the rodent. He stood a full foot and a half above the quivering white furred rodent, who began to nervously chew on his small claws with his large front teeth.

"Take your seat; I must be off for now. Seems he's headed towards the detention block. He's here for the girl...this may be a chance for me to meet this lab freak."

He walked out the door of the control room and made his way to intercept the ghost operative on his way to the detention block. A large smile on his face made him seem even more sinister than he already appeared with his fierce, glaring eyes and long sharp teeth.

"This should be interesting."

* * *

Crones, mining facility interior, 3:10 p.m. Corneria standard time

"All I'm saying is why would he be walking around with Imperial stamped credits?"

Falco soon ducked under the large packing crate as another shot whizzed above his feathered head. Fox unloaded a few rounds in the direction that the groups of soldiers were flooding out of, and then ducked behind the crate to answer Falco's suspicion.

"Maybe he picked them up on his travels, bounty hunters usually move from star system to star system. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if he knew the Imperial's language."

"Whatever, I still don't like the guy."

"You don't like him because he knocked you on your butt when you two first met."

"He got lucky!"

"Sure are getting defensive about it."

Fox gave a quick chuckle and tossed a grenade over his shoulder. He mentally counted to three and then sprang up after the bulk of the explosion subsided, depleting his blaster's ammo supply and slapping in a fresh one.

"Krystal, you sense anything?!"

He shouted down the hallway where Krystal and Slippy were positioned. His ear twitched as he heard her distant voice shout back.

"Nothing here, its clear Fox, come to us!"

He looked back down at Falco who was still crouched behind the crate, clearly in deep thought. He tapped on the avian's shoulder and they both jogged over to where their teammates waited for them.

"The temperature is increasing quickly; I'd say were right where we need to be."

Slippy pressed a few buttons on his wrist computer and stared intently at the digital read out that was displayed.

"We should take a right and then head straight for a few minutes until we get to a door. That should take us to the refinery where we can get a clear view where the support columns are at."

"Alright, Slippy, lead the way."

The collective four of them walked down the hallway, with Slippy in the lead. They took the sharp right he mentioned earlier and found a long strait hall that was dotted with ventilation systems.

"They use these vents to circulate the warm air that the lava is producing so that this place won't over heat all on its own."

"Wow, fascinating."

Falco threw his sarcasm into the middle of things, which was rather normal. Krystal on the other hand was still confused by his antics, being that she wasn't used to it as much as Fox or Slippy were. They both shook their heads and continued walking. About five minutes down the hallway, they soon found a large steel door with a number pad and retinal scanner.

"Oh...I wasn't expecting a security system."

Falco slapped his forehead with his palm and Fox closed his eyes in frustration. These things took forever to hack into, that is if you were smart enough to even hack them. Fortunately they had the smartest little toad in the whole galaxy with them.

"No problem, I should have the door open in a little bit."

"How long do you think it will take, Slip?"

Fox examined the security measures and then looked back to Slippy.

"A few hours tops."

"Great...well, it should give us time to think of what were going to do when we get in there."

While Slippy was busy with the door, the rest of Star Fox began fixing, cleaning, and preparing their equipment for the final phase of the mission. The charges were set, all six of them were set to approximately ten minutes, they would then leave as quickly as possible; the extra pressure from the collective blasts of these charges would probably affect the lava flow. If they were lucky, maybe it would go down with the Imperial troops still inside, less to worry about in the long run. It was a terrible thought, but in such a situation you could be imagining things rather shocking even to yourself. War changes people, changes them rather dramatically, so much that you might not recognize them anymore.

Then an idea popped into Fox's mind, maybe Tex was in a dramatic military action, which could explain his distant behavior. Something about the wolf's eyes just made Fox wonder that this bounty hunter has seen some incredible things, dramatic things...horrible things.

"Alright all set. Those funny talking bastards won't know what hit em'."

The vulpine's thoughts were interrupted by his teammates conversation. Krystal saw that Fox was focused on a subject that his mind blocked everything out, when he snapped back into reality; Krystal questioned what he was thinking about so hard.

"Oh; nothing important."

Was his reply, which she didn't buy for a second. So she played her "I'll just read your mind anyways" card and as always, she won.

"I'm just thinking about our new business partner. He just seems...strange to me, I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"I can't place it either, Fox. But I think you should talk with him after the missions over. Break the ice; learn more about who this man is."

"...I'll think about it."

"And I'll know if your not."

She gently patted the side of his face and giggled. It was a good idea, he just needed the courage, and Tex wasn't the type that was easy to talk to. Then as quick as a burst of lightning, another thought popped into his head.

"Hey, Falco, you got any of those jellybeans left over?"

* * *

Crones, detention block entryway, 3:15 p.m. Corneria standard time

This heat was starting to get on the tall wolf's nerves. Sweat was dripping into his eyes, making them irritated and blurring his vision. He pulled off his jacket and tied the sleeves around his waist so he wouldn't need to carry it in his hands, revealing the gleaming plates of armor he wore on his torso and back as well as the leather holsters where he carried his blasters under his arms. Tex was at the entrance of the detention blocks, all he needed to do now was to find number three, get the spy, and get the hell outta dodge. He turned a corner and spied his latest victim, a badger of about two hundred and thirty pounds.

He snuck up behind the muscular white and black furred beast and drew his knife. A falling feather would have made more noise than him; he somersaulted over the badger's shoulders and landed right in front of him. Before he had time to pull the trigger, the gun was torn from his arms and a blade plunged into his chest. He let out a soft gurgle as his eyes rolled into the back of his head; the blade twisted and then wrung a large gash in the badger's chest cavity. Tex wiped the blood from his knife and stored it back into his oiled leather holster.

Detention block three was just around the corner. No need to play it nice and quiet now, Tex gave a full sprint to the many cells that lined the walls, glancing for a trace of any captive. His keen sense of hearing picked up a soft cough from the door on the far end of the holding area, it sounded feminine, bingo! The door was locked of course, but he came too far to just quite now, so he just dug his fingers into the little seams of the door and began to pull. The muscles of his heavily scarred arms began to flex and burn from stress, but the door was giving in to his might and soon the door pulled free.

As he poked his head inside, he sniffed the area to quickly analyze the cell. What he saw would have broken his heart if he thought he still had one. A female wolf, about six feet tall, with grey fur white paws was curled up into a ball on the floor, scratches and bruises covering her delicate body. As she heard the door being wrenched from its hinges, she looked up from the floor as stared in shock at the imposing figure in the doorway.

"Victoria McCoy?"

She quivered slightly as she tried to stand up, he could see that she was poorly clothed so he pulled off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. She clutched it close to her chest and addressed her new visitor.

"Are you here to rescue me?"

The next word he said was the greatest thing she had ever heard in her entire life.

"Yes."

Though she was tall herself, taller than most women, she only came up to Tex's shoulders. She took a moment to examine her rescuer; he was massive, almost seven feet tall and probably over two hundred pounds of muscle, though he wasn't so bulky that it would limit his mobility. Scars spread across the exposed areas of his arms and face, his neck had a long scar that ringed around his neck, he was hanged once before. She realized that she would have a rather hard time of walking from her injuries and her hunger, that being apparent by her stomach emitting a growl. Tex's ears went flat as he heard this and sat her down for a moment. He pulled out some rations he carried with him and offered them to her, she didn't hesitate a second for the food, tearing off the packaging and shoveling the balanced, survival equipment into her mouth.

Tex watched as she ate, it reminded him of a garbage disposal.

"Don't eat too fast; you will get full quicker if you take your time. Here have some water too."

He offered her a bottle of water and continued watching her. She was beautiful, strong build, delicate features, legs that go on forever and big blue eyes, if she weren't military; she could have perused a rather successful modeling job. He tried to refrain from staring but it was a losing battle that even he couldn't fight. She noticed that he was staring at her and pulled the bottle away from her lips.

"I'm fine, thanks for your concern."

Tex's attention quickly snapped back to her face, his expression stayed the same but inside his heart was beginning to pick up speed.

"I noticed you were examining me, don't worry, nothing too serious."

She knew he was checking her out but tried to remain professional. She slowed down on the rations after she finally had something to fill her stomach, and talked with the man who just saved her life.

"Did the goddess send you?"

He raised an eyebrow at this, but quickly responded.

"Not exactly, your commanding officer did."

"Ah, sorry about the strange question, guess my nerves are just shot."

"It's fine. Are you ready to go?"

She gripped the jacket that was covering her and nodded her head. As she stood she began to feel dizzy, her knees felt like they were made of lead and her body like jelly. Tex scooped his arms under her legs and back, hoisting her up and carrying her out of the cell. She gasped as she was being carried away like this, she felt helpless, something she wasn't used to, but as long as she was safe and in the care of this man, she didn't mind. Her arms moved all on their own, holding onto his neck and shoulder.

"What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"...Tex."

"Thank you, Tex. I owe you big for this."

"It's no problem, miss."

Miss? She was never addressed by miss before, strange. She was used to being called by her nickname for the most of her life.

"You can just call me Vicky, k?"

"Alright...Vicky."

"So what's your story?"

"Star Fox enlisted me for help; they are busy setting up explosives to blow this whole place away. General Pepper says you have important information for him, so I'm here to get you back to Corneria safely."

"So you're a privet contractor?"

"No, bounty hunter. But the good general gave me an offer that caught my interest."

Her eyes grew wide, which he expected but he continued walking without hesitation.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you get out of here alive, trust me miss."

"Please, just Vicky."

They were almost out of the detention block. This was easier than he thought it would be, but he had to stay sharp, he wasn't done just yet.

"Could you open up my comm. link please?"

Vicky looked down at his arm that was cradling her back and flipped open the wrist computer that was attached to it. He moved his wrist so he could talk clearly into it without her back muffling his voice.

"This is Tex; I have found the subject and proceeding to evacuate the facility."

He waited for a response and got one he wasn't expecting.

"This ain't the damn swat team, man. Talk like a normal person, why don't ya."

"Falco, clear the line, I need to speak to Fox."

"Aaah your no fun."

Another pause, then Fox's voice was heard in the comm. link.

"Fox here."

"This is Tex. I got the spy and I'm leaving, how are things on your end?"

"Almost ready, just need to get the door open and we will set the charges."

"How long are they set?"

"About ten minutes, why?"

"The heat from the volcano will shorten that, get out as quickly as you can. I'll meet you back at the base camp."

"Affirmative, see ya soon."

"Could you close it for me please?"

Vicky clicked the comm. unit shut and he placed his arm behind her back again. This caused her to get goose bumps under her fur, but she tried to remain calm.

"So formal, you get gentlemen training or something?"

"No, but my father always told me to be kind to women."

Most of the walk was silent, she wasn't the shy type, but Vicky found herself short on words. Tex was feeling the same, thought he never talked much anyway, he felt different around this particular woman. They both tried to engage in conversation but it mostly ended up being a very short one. This would be an interesting day they both thought to themselves.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me

* * *

Crones, lava refinery, 4:25 p.m. Corneria standard time 

It had been almost an hour now. Slippy was in a heated battle with the firewalls and back up security of the computerized locking mechanisms. Fox continued to pace back and forth, keeping his eyes glued to the door and his ears flat.

"Is it ready yet, Slippy?"

"Almost, I just need a little more time."

Falco, who was leaning up against the black, soot covered wall, retorted to the amphibian.

"You said that, thirty minutes ago. This is stupid, why don't we just blow the doors open?"

"Sure, Falco, we'll just blow the doors away, and get rushed by temperatures that could melt steel. If you haven't noticed by now, the sign is translated to 'caution extreme temperatures, use of thermal protection required.' If were going in there, were going to need more protection from the heat than what were wearing."

"Well, Einstein, how do you plan we do that?"

"Look in my bag, I'm sure if you dig around in there, you will find it. Now stop bothering me, I'm working here."

"Well pardon me all over the place. I forgot how easy it is to loose your focus while typing on a keyboard."

Falco pushed off the wall he was leaning on, collecting the soot on the back of his flight jacket and looking in the bottomless bag that Slippy hauled with him on their way over here. He pulled out all manner of devices, most of which he had no idea what they did, until he pulled out a metallic colored jumpsuit that was insulated. On the tag it read, "Extreme temperature protection suit." He looked the suit over, it seemed like it would do the trick, and it was padded so thick it could probably be used as a space suit. Connected to the suit was a pair of thick, black gloves and boots.

As Falco slipped on the jumpsuit, Fox's pacing seemed to increase in speed. The longer they stood here, the more dangerous it was getting. It was only a matter of time before the cameras and security systems would identify them as an intruder, then all hell would break loose. His pacing was interrupted by a soft tug at his tail. He looked behind himself and quickly noticed the little blue paw that was clasped around his tail.

"Will you calm down? That pacing is making me nervous."

Krystal hadn't taken her eyes off Fox since he began pacing.

"Sorry, I'm just a little tense."

"Just sit still for a minute, try and relax. Here come sit with me."

They both sat down on the floor together, leaning against the wall for support. Krystal rested her head on his shoulder and reached for his paw. They laced their fingers together and just sat on the floor, enjoying each others company and feeling the warmth of their bodies. With her free hand, Krystal rubbed the white streak of fur that sat in between Fox's ears, causing his tail to slightly wag back and forth.

After about a half hour later, Slippy had finally stopped clicking on his keyboard, and had unplugged the equipment from the security lock.

"Open sesame?"

The door beeped and a green light was displayed that signaled that it was no longer locked. The green toad cracked his knuckles and turned to the rest of the team.

"When is this galaxy gonna give me some challenge, eh?"

Fox's ears perked up as he heard this and slowly rose with Krystal's paw still encased in his.

"Nice work, Slip. Ok everybody, we should get our suits on and get ready."

Falco had finished putting on his suit a little while ago and was testing out its abilities. It was rather bulky, but it didn't limit his mobility too drastically. The gloves however felt strange on his hands. He normally never wore gloves and it felt weird against his feathered fingers, but then again, it was better than getting his fingers melted into a blue puddle. He pulled on the head protection and waited for everyone else to get into uniform.

After everyone was ready, Fox grasped the door handle and slowly pulled it open. The refinery was pretty large, many machines turning as the lava currents pushed against them. They were somewhat like large metal water wheels, only more hazardous due to the fact that the liquid they were cycling through was molten rock. Large energy dynamos were connected to the giant wheels, absorbing the power and transforming it into useable energy for the drills to penetrate into the hard rock in search for precious ores.

Everyone stood in awe, especially Slippy. He being a technology enthusiast made his heart skip a beat at the sight of the large marvel that towered in front of him. _A shame we have to destroy it,_ he thought to himself. Fox quickly realized that he was staring out to space as if he were being brainwashed and shook his head. He picked up one of the charges and looked around for a cable system. He quickly found what he was looking for and set the charges at the base of the cables.

"Lets get to work."

Everyone else grabbed an explosive and searched for areas that would cause the most damage. After Fox placed another charge he realized something, if they were going to rely on the lava to destroy the rest of the complex on its own, then why were these wheels not melting themselves? They rested right in the lava, yet they didn't bare any scorch marks. That's when Fox noticed it, a small blue tint at the base of the wheels._Energy shields_, he thought, _there must be a generator close by._

As the rest of the team began their search for more cable systems, Fox did his own searching for this shield generator. He noticed a small plasma discharge dripping down from up high, so he looked up and sure enough, there was the generator. It was up there rather high; he cursed every contractor, every mechanic, and every electrician that worked on this facility that came up with the bright idea of having the generator up so high. No way to take it out with a rocket, the heat would just cause it to malfunction; no way to take it out with a grenade, the generator was at an impossible throwing distance. Then an idea struck him, a well placed sniper round at the base of the support columns could knock it loose and fall right into the ocean of orange fire that it was suspended over.

The scope was zeroed in on its target, a high guarantee it would hit its mark. Fox rested the stock of the long barreled rifle against his shoulder and squinted through the scope. His finger on the trigger, just begging to push it and the round securely locked into the chamber and ready to fly out the barrel. He took a few more seconds to look at the readout that was displayed on the scope and he pulled the trigger. Neon colored energy laced out of the rifle and flew towards the generator, leaving a streak of light behind as it was shot.

The generator was blasted back and hung by s single power cable until it snapped from its weight and plopped right into the lava. It cracked and sizzled for a moment and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Fox's ears twitched as he heard alarms blaring and a digital feminine voice call out some warning in the Imperial language over the speaker system. The blue tint from the shield disappeared and the wheels began to stop turning and instead, began sinking into the hot liquid along with the energy storing units and dynamos. The team of mercenaries had finished setting the last charge and bolted for the door and out of the facility.

"In exactly ten minutes, this place is gonna go up in flames! The collective blasts from the charges will aggravate the magmas flow and if we don't get out of here by then, well be up to our necks the stuff!"

"Just shut up and keep running!"

Falco snapped. Slippy's voice rang out over the racket of the alarms and the rather annoying computerized voice of the warning system.

"If we take the next left and cross through the lounge, we should find an exit hatch that we can take that tunnels through the volcano!"

They all continued running, something that proved difficult from the now increasing temperature of the facility. As they ran, they peeled off the thermal suits so that it would be easier to run. Fox welled up his courage to look behind him as he was running; his eyes widened as he saw lava was beginning to eat away at the refinery door and slowly ooze into the hallway.

"Run faster!"

The other three animals all looked behind themselves to see the large puddles of orange begin to seep into the hallway and their pace began to increase. Fox's heart raced as he just remembered about another member of their team. Did Tex already make it out, or was he still inside? He realized that he might have just sealed the fate of his ally and a Cornerian with valuable information that could help end this war before it starts.

* * *

Crones, mining facility interior, 4:25 p.m. Cornerian standard time 

As team Star Fox was busy setting us their charges, Tex was busy with something that he found would be a rather difficult feat, engage in friendly conversation.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Color?"

It had been awhile since Vicky had last spoken. The strange and sudden question caught Tex off guard.

"You want me to say it again?"

"...blue."

"Why blue?"

"Guess it's because it reminds me of the ocean, the only place that ever has the perfect temperature in this galaxy, what's the meaning of this anyway?"

"Not every conversation has to be serious; I don't know anything about you."

"I would think it be best you didn't know too much about me."

"And why is this?"

"...I'm...not the most popular to many people, let's leave it at that."

"I'm sure what you did wasn't that deplorable, at least not enough to be hated as much as you claim."

"...sure, so um, what is your favorite color?"

"Yellow."

"Why is this?"

"It's the color of a tulip, I love tulips."

"Interesting..."

"I just really like plants, ya know? They are just fun to me, you get to watch them grow and take care of them and get rewarded by their beauty."

"Fascinating...so...what is your favorite...fruit?"

"Pomegranate can't get enough of them."

"I don't like pomegranates."

"You must be crazy."

"I wouldn't doubt it, but I just don't enjoy them. They are tart, messy, and all that work for just a few little seeds."

"But it's the work that makes the seeds rewarding. Like climbing a tree to get an apple, the sweetest ones are at the top."

"Whatever..."

Her ears flattened at the remark. _Well he sure is a bundle of sunshine_, she thought to herself. _Gloomy as a graveyard, and probably just as enthusiastic,_ he had no personality, it was like talking to a rock, and the permanent bone chilling glare he always had along with the frown made him look like he was on the verge of strangling someone. She swallowed up her courage and responded to his last remark.

"So who pissed in your cereal this morning?"

"Excuse me?"

His eyes widened slightly and he quirked an eyebrow.

"What's with the look on your face, you looking to kill someone?"

"This is my face, don't like how it looks then don't stare at it...besides...I think I've already killed my fair share today."

"And another thing, the 'it's the end of the world' attitude is just depressing."

"Well excuse me princess, sorry I'm not the knight in shining armor here to save you. In the books it's always the pretty girl, who gets rescued by the noble and chivalrous man. But in the real world, it's a little different, its guys like me, the working class, the back breakers who put their blood, sweat and tears into their work to make your lives easier. Not the handsome guy you fall in love with at first glance, me, big, mean, ugly me!"

"That doesn't mean you have to act like theres no longer a reason to live anymore, you just make people as depressed as you by acting that way."

"You're starting to give me a headache. And there is no reason to live, this shit hole called life has taken everything away from me. I'm already dead, my bodies just too damn stubborn to stop walking."

"So...you have nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Thats what everyone says."

"Most truly don't mean it."

"Friends, family, possessions, business partners...a hit list?"

"I got a bar I like to go to from time to time, the worst that will happen when I'm gone is maybe one guy who says "Hey, I haven't seen that wolf with the nice coat in awhile." thats what I got, thats all I've got and thats all I ever had."

She remained silent. His words cut like a knife, was he truly this forsaken, or was he just being dramatic? She decided it her second choice, he began to get on her nerves to she began struggling to get out of his arms.

"Alright, let me down right now!"

"Stop it, your going to make me drop you!"

"Let me down!"

"Fine!"

Tex let her go. Vicky planted her feet on the floor and began walking to her best ability. Her legs were like noodles but she felt too proud to ask for his help, she didn't need it; she could walk all on her own, until her knees gave out and she fell to the floor. She was hurt, more serious than she thought and it was beginning to frighten her. Tex kneeled down next to her and tried to pick her back up, but she wouldn't allow it.

"Don't touch me!"

"Let me help you, your hurt very badly. Please, let me help you."

"I said I'm fine!"

She raised her voice at him. He let her go and simply sat on the floor.

"Alright, if you don't need my help, then get up and we can both be on our merry way."

She was taken off guard by his decision. She waited for him to do something but he simply sat on the floor and stared at her, waiting for her to get up. She struggled but it was no use, finally she gave in. With a soft voice, she addressed him.

"Could...could you help me get up?"

Her cheeks burned with embarrassment and regret but he didn't rub it in her face, he didn't make fun of her, he simply scooped her back off the floor and continued walking. What he did next she would not have expected from anyone. He placed his lips next to her ear and whispered.

"I'm sorry..."

Vicky rested her head against his armored chest and responded with a whisper of her own.

"It's ok, I'm sorry too."

They both stared at each other for a moment, their eyes were fixated on one another, her grip tightened on his back but the armor made him unable to feel it, but when his grip tightened on her legs and upper back, she broke out in goose bumps again. Finally he spoke, trying to remain serious.

"How serious are your wounds?"

"Not too bad, why do you care so much?"

"I...I don't know, maybe its because you remind me of someone."

"Who do I remind you of?"

"A friend I once had...thats all."

Tex's ears flickered as he heard the subtle beat of footsteps against the hard floor of the hallway. They weren't his footsteps; they were much louder than his. He softly placed Vicky on the floor and propped her up against the wall.

"Well have to continue this conversation later, I'll be back in a minute."

He pulled out two blasters from the leather holsters he had under his arms and pointed the barrels in the direction where he heard the footsteps. A tall coyote, clad in a black armored vest and pants slowly walked up to Tex. A wide grin exposed a row of gleaming teeth on the tan colored animal's face; his hair slicked back underneath the blood red beret that sat on top of his head. With a smooth Lylat accent, he greeted Tex.

"You are Tex Hempioro, correct?"

"Who's asking?"

"Just a man who wants to offer you the chance of a lifetime, that's all."

"That a fact?"

"It is, my grey friend. I've been watching you dispatch my guards and my personnel, and I must say I'm impressed."

His gaze darted to the she wolf on the floor who winced at the sight of his eyes. Tex noticed her wince and trained his guns at the coyote's head once more; anger began to fill his eyes.

"I'm here to offer you a position in the highest, most elite of occupations as an Imperial Black Ops. You will be paid handsomely, much more than that old hound Pepper has offered you to wipe us out, and be a part in the most powerful military force in the universe. What do you say?"

Tex gave the offer a slight thought, slowly lowering his weapons. He looked back at Vicky then back at the Imperial officer. It was true, he didn't care for Corneria, he didn't care for much but profit, his ship, and the beaches of Aquis that he liked to go to from time to time. He had never really cared for anyone in his life, and those he did care about were long since dead. But this girl, Vicky, he cared about her, but why, why care for someone he barely knew? Perhaps it was because of the fact that she was tortured, he was able to sympathize for her. He was many things, but backstabber was not one of them, it would be a crime to turn a blind eye to the injustice that was committed here. He wouldn't just turn her back over to the Imperials.

"Sorry pal, but you're the one who tortured this young woman here, in my book that's a big no no, and thanks for the offer but I hate military. I was a military puppet once and that was plenty enough, and also, I just plain don't like you. I dunno but something about you just makes me want to give you a nice kick to the face."

The officer twitched at this, he had never been insulted like this. No one had ever tried to cross him, he was in command and everyone treated him with respect. This wolf was clearly insane to insult him, or simply too idiotic to know exactly what he had just done.

"I don't believe anyone has ever insulted me like that in my entire life."

"Guess you better get used to it. As for Vicky here, you hurt her; it really pushes my buttons when a guy roughs up women like that. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to kill you now mister...?"

"I am Lieutenant Thomas Kaiser, officer of the Imperial Black Ops and becoming increasingly angered by your lack of respect."

With that, the black clad coyote drew two blasters and the gun duel began. Each combatant strafed left and right, firing as they took a step, fortunately Tex anticipated every shot, unfortunately Kaiser didn't. A bolt of energy tore through the unprotected area around his left elbow. A normal blaster would have just made a scorch mark, but thanks to Tex's modifications, it blew a chunk of meat clean off his arm. The officer dropped the gun in his left arm and howled out as he felt the sting of his injury.

With his left arm useless and his remaining blaster empty, he threw out a flash grenade to cause a distraction. Tex slammed his eyes shut to nullify the effects of the grenade but when he reopened them, Kaiser was gone. Tex holstered his guns and chuckled to himself.

"Coward..."

His left ear flickered as he heard the loud noise of leather souls hitting metal floors. He wiped out his knife and swung around, making a large cut in the coyote's chest armor. Kaiser reared back and pulled out a long, curved knife and twirled it around in his uninjured right paw.

"Damn your quick, most would be dead from my ambush, this is interesting."

"It's your shoes; makes a loud noise when you walk."

"Enough talk!"

The clanging on metal echoed through the hall. Each fighter had extensive combat training as it was a heated battle. Tex and Kaiser were both pushing against one another as their blades locked against each other; their faces were inches apart, with each blade directly in the middle. Despite his condition, Kaiser continued to smile as he stared into the grey eyes of the wolf that stood in his way. He noticed as he looked into those grey irises, he could see pain, not physical pain, but emotional, the kind that stayed with you that left more than just a scar, it left you hollow, those eyes, he had a dead mans eyes.

Tex was growing bored, so he reared his head back and slammed his forehead into the coyote's snout, sending him reeling back and slamming onto the floor. Tex slowly walked up to the fallen Imperial and stood tall over his body. He had knocked him senseless with his hard head butt, but he still retained the ability of speech.

"Finish me then...you damn lab freak."

He raised his blade and positioned himself for the final blow, but he was interrupted as the sound of alarms and a computerized feminine voice blathering out warnings in Imperial.

"_Main shielding system failure, complex in critical condition."_

Tex looked up at the ceiling as he heard the blaring alarm system. Kaiser quickly regained his senses and charged upward strait at Tex's face. The wolf quickly looked down and somersaulted away from the lunging blade, just as it grazed his left cheek. He winced at the cut, but it was nothing a band aid couldn't fix. Kaiser sprang back up from the floor and twirled his knife in his tan colored fingers, chuckling and keeping constant eye contact with Tex.

"First blood, whelp. Seems your friends have disabled the shielding system, only a matter of time now before this whole damn place sinks right into the magma were suspended over. Oh and look here, I seem to be standing in front of the only exit thats close enough for you and your little bitch to escape alive. The goddess does not smile upon you this day my friend. Tsk tsk."

The lupine looked back at the increasingly stressed looking Vicky on the floor, then back at Kaiser. He tightened his grip on the leather wrapped handle of his blade, listening to the stretching of the fabric as he clenched his paw around it.

"So...place going up in flames, not much time left to live, and you blocking my only way out."

He twisted his head eighty degrees to the left, popping the vertebrae in his neck and rolling his shoulders. He gave one last glance at Vicky, giving her a reassuring smirk and turning back to Kaiser.

"Guess I'm just going to have to go through you then."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Crones' surface, mining facility exterior, 4:50 p.m. Corneria standard time 

It had been almost ten minutes now. Ten minutes of running, heat, and the angry curses of the Imperials and the loud blasts from their weapons, ripping through the air and the walls. Star Fox had many close calls in its life time, but never had they cut it this close. Fox's breath was labored; each inhale burned the lining of his esophagus and dried his tongue into sandpaper. But his comfort wasn't what was on his mind; no it was the bubbling mass of liquid fire that was starting to eat away at the floors and walls.

They were close now, cutting through the lounge just like Slippy said they should do, and then find the tunnel out of here. Fox took a moment to glance at the collective faces of his teammates, his friends, his family, as it could be the last time he would ever see those faces. He mentally apologized to them all for sending them into this inferno. He stopped feeling sorry for himself and continued scanning the area for that tunnel, looking at every little detail for its presence.

"Slippy, you got the tunnel's location?"

He had to roar over the sound of the alarm system and the constant rumbling of the magma stirring inside the bowls of the volcano. Slippy clicked a few buttons on his wrist and looked from the readout to the walls and back to his wrist. His eyes were big, well bigger than they normally were and his movements were quick and nervous.

"Its...it's...I can't find it!"

"What?!"

Falco yelled out as he was searching for the exit.

"Where the hell is the tunnel, Slippy?!"

"It says right here, but its not here!"

Krystal closed her eyes and began uttering a prayer in her native tongue. If the situation were less tense, Fox would have taken the time to listen to the melodic voice of his mate, but now wasn't the time.

"Goddess dammit!"

The orange fox slammed his fist into a nearby wall, denting the surface and...breaking through it? The wall was hollow on the other side. His heart raced and his eyes lit up with hope.

"Falco, blow that wall open!"

The blue avian who was turning over tables and throwing chairs around looking for the exit, turned to his leader and squinted at the hole in the wall. He didn't need to be told twice, he took out a compact RPG launcher and aimed for the wall. Depressing the trigger and letting the missile fly to its target,blowing the wall away and revealing a long tunnel that had daylight shining out from it. Fox grasped Krystal's paw, throwing her prayer off and dashing for the newly discovered exit. Star Fox ran for the tunnel, the small lanterns on the cavern ceiling swinging back and forth from the volcano's protests.

As they reached the surface, the orange sky had grown dark as the clouds of ash were bellowing out of the volcano's mouth. Slippy pulled out a collection of O2 masks and handed one to each member present, but there was still one left over...then the guilt rushed at them like a locomotive, Tex was still in there somewhere. They pulled on the masks and slid down the base of the mountain, keeping an eye out for fissures and lava bubbling out from the cracks in the volcano's surface. An eternity and a half later, they finally hit flat ground and dashed for the clearing that was their base camp. Fox peeled off his mask and looked towards the bellowing mountain of fire.

His ears fell flat as he continued to watch. They had completed their mission; the facility was sinking into the fires of the volcano and the Imperials will suffer heavy losses...but at what cost? The cost of a comrade and a stranger that had the ability to stop this conflict, was that worth it? Fox McCloud looked back at the collective faces of his teammates, wishing there were two more present with them, but only the four stood at the base camp. Each member stood next to the fox and looked on at the mountain that would soon, if it hadn't already, held the corpse of two individuals who fought for Lylat's safety.

* * *

Crones, mining facility interior, 4:45 p.m. Corneria standard time 

The ringing of metal hitting against metal, the grunts and roars of a conflict, then silence, more ringing, a grunt, silence again. The hallway was beginning to gain an orange tint in this particular spot the two combatants were standing. It wasn't only the magma that bubbled underneath them, but the heat from the fierce fight that took place. Kaiser was growing tired, his sweat converted to steam the second it hit the floor, and the souls of his boots began to stick to the surface which he stood on. He weakly raised his blade and took a fighting stance.

Thankfully, Tex's bright red band around his forehead kept most of the sweat from pouring into his eyes. His breath was in heaves, even with only one functioning arm; Kaiser was proving to be a challenge.

"Given up yet?"

The coyote was merely trying to get inside his opponents head, a tactic with never really worked against Tex.

"No, but I see your getting tired. Why don't you forfeit and I won't kill you, I'll just leave you for the fire to claim."

"Such a kind offer, but the only forfeit will be your life. Come at me!"

Tex thrust his blade at the exposed areas of Kaiser's armored body. Kaiser attempted to move but realized in horror that his boots were melted stuck on the floor. He leaned back as far as he could but the blade hit flesh. The Black Ops growled as his left eye was sliced in two.

"My face, grrrraaaaaaaaahhh, you son of a bitch, raaaaaaaahh!"

"Come now, Kaiser. I don't have all day to mutilate you like this."

"Mutilate...mutilate?! I'll tear you into confetti; I am Thomas Kaiser, commanding officer of the Black Ops and I will not be brought down by a scum sucking peice of shit like you!"

He raised his hand towards the steel colored lupine's face, unsheathing a small blaster from under his sleeve and pulling the trigger. The tiny blast bounced off the armored hide of Tex's chest and careened into the face of Kaiser. With his feet unbalanced, he was pushed to the floor by the blast, burning the fur on his face from the blaster shot. He quickly jumped up and patted his face to snuff out the smoke and embers. His eyes burned more intense than the heat around him and he wrenched the souls of his boots free from the ground and lunged for the wolf's throat.

Both blades slammed into each other, causing sparks to fly into one another's face, but neither of them twitched from the sting. They held their blades against each other, Tex having the upper hand in strength for being the larger animal of the two. The bloody hole that used to be the residence of the coyote's left eye twitched in irritation and anger. Tex looked from the blackened furred face to the bloody eye socket and back, an idea etching into his mind. The lupine looked down at his fingers; the claws were sharp and jagged, he gripped his knife with his right hand and slowly eased his left hand away from the handle.

He swallowed as he thought of what he was about to do. He took a deep breath, extended his left index finger, silently told himself that he was insane for doing this and jammed his finger right into the injured eye socket of his opponent. Kaiser thrashed and roared as he felt Tex's sharp finger worm its way into his eye socket, dropping his knife and grasping onto the wolf's arm, wrenching it out of his face. Fluid poured from the hole in his face as he clutched it and stepped back from Tex. The steel colored lupine wiped his finger on the sleeve of his shirt and pulled out his blaster.

He shot the officer three times in the chest, knocking him on the searing floor again and pinning him there. He was in too much pain to feel the burn from the floor. He then noticed from where he was lying on the floor that the ceiling was growing a brighter orange. He was too late to realize it, but a large glob of magma had eaten away at the ceiling and poured directly on him. Throwing his arms in front of him to stop the assault and screaming in horror as he watched the bright ooze drip onto him.

Tex holstered his blaster and ran back over to Vicky, who was farther away so she wouldn't get burned sitting on the floor. He scooped her up and ran for the exit, mentally counting down how much time he had left before the charges detonated and this whole place blew sky high. Vicky looked over Tex's shoulder to see a burning, thrashing body of the once great Thomas Kaiser.

"Holy mother of the Goddess, what happened to him?!"

Tex kept his gaze forward as he responded.

"Things got a little too hot for him."

"What an awful way to go."

"He had it coming."

Two minutes left, the exit not in sight, was Kaiser lying when he said he was blocking their only way out? Well he'll just have to laugh about it all the way down to hell, but Tex was going to get out of here alive, he promised this to himself...to her. Its not that he wanted to continue living, but to make sure the small thing cradled in his arms did. Vicky had buried her face into his chest, scared to look at what was coming next. She whimpered and tightened her grip on Tex's heavily scarred arms.

One minute to go and things were starting to heat up (yeah, yeah make all the jokes you want.) Tex's grey irises darted back and forth as he pumped his legs, searching for that damned exit. He caught something out of the corner of his eye, a coal deposit station. His ticket out of here; the station would transport him, along with the stockpile of coal strait to the surface. He held Vicky tight and dove into the deposit station, slammed the transport button, and the two wolves soon rocketed up to the surface where the coal would be taken.

_Four...three...two...one...and let there be fire._ The charges detonated, causing the lava to surge and bubble within the center of the volcano and consuming the facility that was built in its depths. The coal station broke the surface of Crones, shooting up into the sky and crashing to the ground, spilling out its two passengers. Tex scooped Vicky up again and ran as far as he could from the volcano, feeling the rumble from underneath them. Any moment now and the volcano will blow its top, and he didn't want to be anywhere near the damned thing when it did.

The base camp was still a few miles away; it had to be far from the volcano otherwise the deadly clouds of ash would cover the entire place. Thankfully the ash had not started to fall yet, but large globs of magma were spouting out of the mountain of fire. Then he felt it, a large rumbling that cracked the ground beneath him and made his fur stand on end. The volcano...it's awake. With an ear splitting '**BOOM**' the lethal shower of orange blew from its spout.

Vicky screamed but he could not hear it, Tex was miles away from anything. His life flashed before him, he saw his father, and his mother, a large white frosted cake in front of him with five candles stuck in its snowy surface, his fifth birthday. The images fast forwarded on him, he was standing in front of a large crowd of animals, each clapping and cheering at him and three other animals that stood next to him, his graduation day at the academy. Then blood, thick and red, his hands covered in it, staining his fingers and what remained of his soul, the corpse of another nameless bounty lay before his feet. Tex closed his eyes, feeling the bandages on his face stretch against his skin as the muscles in his face moved.

The largest bandage that being the one that covered the majority of the left side of his face concealed what would become a long ragged scar that crossed his left eye.

"...alright?"

Tex only caught a sample of what Vicky said to him. He shook his head to clear it and looked down at her, realizing that he was still running. He tried to focus on her words, but the ringing in his ears made it difficult.

"What?"

"I said, are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah...fine, just fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yes...yes I'm fine."

_Liar,_ a little voice inside his head whispered to him. He shook it off and ran for the base camp. He gulped for air, trying to force his lungs open so that they could expand with oxygen. He felt light headed, but he had to keep running. If he made it out of this alive, he probably won't be walking for a few days. He could see the base camp flag and the tents, he was almost there.

* * *

Crones surface, base camp 5:02 p.m. Corneria standard time 

They watched in horror as the volcano erupted, sealing the fate of the two Lylatians that were still down there somewhere. Fox had to look away; Krystal buried her face into his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Falco had folded his arms and stared hard at the mountain of fire in front of them, while Slippy's head sagged down to the floor and simply stayed there. No one could survive that, no one. It was over, the mission was a failure, and they had lost their teammate, the life of a Cornerian spy, and information that could help safe Lylat.

"...Koff!"

Fox's ears swiveled to the sound of someone coughing, it sounded gruff and harsh, it sounded like a certain grey wolf. Fox quickly looked to where he heard the sound, his heart racing as he saw a silhouette of someone walking towards them.

"Is that...?"

Falco and Slippy looked to where Fox was staring while Krystal raised her head from his chest and stared with wide eyes.

"No way...can't be..."

"Koff!"

Each animal's jaw dropped as they saw a black encrusted wolf of about six and a half feet walk up to them with a six foot she wolf cradled in his arms. He walked up to Fox and gave out another cough, a black puff of smoke escaping his muzzle.

"Tex Hempioro reporting, sir, mission accomplished...Koff!"

He walked over to a tent and gently placed Vicky down on the cot and walked back over to the group of animals, smirking as he saw they had not taken their eyes off him.

"What, don't like the new fur color?"

He patted his arms a few times and wiped the coal residue from his fur, coughing as he did so. Fox willed his brain to make his mouth move to form words but only a sound like "I uhh buh wha?" was all that came out. Tex quirked a blackened eyebrow at his response, looked back at Vicky who had fallen asleep in his tent and returned to the group of animals.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking, I got out using a coal deposit station, hence the black soot. And that there is Victoria McCoy, she's hurt, nothing too serious but she has a hard time walking, she'll need medical attention, rest, and food if ya got any when we get back to the Great Fox."

Falco shook his head and laughed out loud, giving Tex a hardly pat on the back, sending a cloud of soot into the air and causing the lupine to cough again.

"Holy hell man, we all thought you got turned into a grease spot!"

Slippy jumped up and down as he laughed.

"Tex, I can't believe you made it out alive, I calculated a twenty-three percent chance you would make it alive, but here you are, incredible!"

Tex's eyes slightly widened as he was told this.

"Keep that kind of information to yourself from now on, ok Slippy?"

He began feeling light headed again, he was very tired and the cuts he got from Kaiser made him feel dizzy. He looked up from Slippy to face Fox and addressed him.

"Fox, if there isn't anything else you need me to do; I think I'll go lie down."

"Of course, Tex, you've earned some rest."

He was caught by surprise as Tex saluted him, he had shone respect. He also noticed that he started calling him by his first name. He watched as the tall wolf dusted himself off one last time and walked up to his tent. He curled up onto his cot and laid his head down next to Vicky's. He instantly fell asleep as his head hit the cot and began to breathe in a soft rhythm.

Falco saw the two wolves sleeping in the same cot together and elbowed Fox in his side, chuckling.

"Cute ain't it? Warms my heart I tell ya..."

Fox simply shook his head with a grin, watching the two slumbering wolves together. Despite all they have probably been through, they finally found peace. Even though Fox would never admit it, Falco was right; it was rather...cute to see them like this, he never would have guessed Tex to be all sentimental like this. He decided to leave the two alone and walked up to Krystal. He gave her a soft peck on the cheek and knelt down by the radio she was standing near.

He began sending a transmission that they accomplished their job to General Pepper, and that they will be in Corneria in about a week or so. Krystal noticed Tex and Victoria sleeping together. She grinned and curiously read their thought patterns. What she saw made her erupt into a fit of giggles, causing Fox to stare at her with confusion.

"What's so funny?"

She quickly stopped as she realized that Fox was watching her. She twirled around and gave a cute smile, blushing furiously.

"Oh, let's just say those two are really enjoying their rest."

Fox didn't understand at first where this was going so he simply let the subject go, until he stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened. Krystal giggled at her mate and joined in walking with him, her paw in his as they waited for Tex and Victoria to wake up. Within the two wolf's subconscious was quite a scene. _Each wolf's arms were wrapped around the other's body; the last few events were a powerful bonding experience for the both of them, it felt only natural to feel this way towards another. They continued to cling to the other; she dug her fingers into his back as he moved his paw up and down her thigh._

_They moved together in perfect unison. Bringing her paws to the sides of his face and pulling him towards her lips. They melted together, in a heat more intense than the fires they had just escaped from. Like the old saying goes 'out of the frying pan, and into the fire' and what a fire it was. Hot enough to melt the ice on his heart, freeing him of his dark past and sorrows that plagued him._

_Their legs were entwined like the gnarled roots of an ancient oak tree, lacing them together so that no force, not even the all mighty Goddess could separate them. He moved from her lips to her neck, creeping down to her chest, then to her flat stomach. His head rested on that spot for a moment, simply feeling the warmth of her body and the smooth, soft touch of her fur. She ran her fingers through his hair, making his scalp tingle at her touch. A tear of joy and happiness rolled down his cheek, like the darkness he once held in his heart, it rolled off of him and dropped to the floor of this perfect dream world._

_She owned him, body and renewed soul and he held her heart in his hands, as gently as a new born pup. He felt alive again; the hollow spot that was once there was now filled again. He moved his muzzle back up to hers, giving soft kisses and nibbles on his way up. They stared at one another for the longest moment in time, drinking in the other's gaze as if it were liquid oxygen. They completed the other and made each as a whole, it was perfect, the only word to describe it, perfect._

"_Perfect..."_

_They both cooed in unison. He traced his fingers on the flat of her stomach, feeling every inch of her and worshiping her like the Roman goddess she was named after. She had wrapped her tail around his waist, encircling him with her arms and legs, and arching her back to pull herself closer to him. He rested his head on her chest, listening to the sound of her racing heart beat and the rhythm of her breathing. With a deep voice, full of affection, he whispered to her._

_"My Victoria..."_

_He raised his head and nuzzled her neck with his muzzle. She sighed in passion and rested her chin on his head. She brought her lips to his notched ear and whispered into it, causing goose bumps to form as he felt her warm breath against the side of his face._

_ "And your my Tex..."_

_My Tex...he was somebodies Tex, and thats all he would have ever asked for._


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Corneria City, General Pepper's office, 5:45 p.m. local time 

The radio transmission was coming in rather unclear. The long distance scanner was having difficulty picking up the signal thanks to the asteroid belt. General John Pepper stood at his desk, looking at the static filled display screen on the wooden table and listening to the grainy speech from Fox McCloud.

"...ox...oud...sir, we have our...ccomplished."

Pepper walked up to the screen and responded to the transmission.

"Fox, is that you? Try and open up another frequency, I'm getting a lot of interference."

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. Soon the static had begun to disappear, along with the grainy speech and Fox continued talking again.

"Fox McCloud reporting, sir."

"Glad to see your still alive, Fox. How fairs the mission?"

"Mission accomplished, sir. The mining colony is under feet of lava and the spy is safe with us."

"Excellent, when will you be arriving to bring her here to deliver the information?"

"Well, sir, it will take some time. Since there isn't a warp gate in this galaxy that can transport us to Corneria, it will take us roughly a week to get back to Lylat. Question if I may, sir?"

"Granted."

"Why can't she simply tell you over our communications line on the Great Fox when we clear the asteroid belt?"

"This information is deemed classified. If another frequency were to listen in on the transmission, then we could have a serious problem in our hands. It would be safer if we were to have her deliver the information herself to her superiors. We will then relay as much of it as we can to you."

"Understood, sir, we will be landing on Corneria in about a week."

"Have a safe flight back here, Fox, and if the agent has taken any serious injury, you have my permission to operate on her. Just make sure she is safe, she is carrying something that is very important."

"Right, Fox out."

The screen went black. The image of Fox McCloud faded off the screen as the transmission was cut and the hound sat in his desk chair. He reclined in the patted seat and looked out the window that opened up to the view of the city. Still a heartbreaking scene, but it was beginning to show improvement. The military, as well as all the surviving engineers, construction workers, and contractors had been working around the clock, trying to replace all the damage that was sustained.

The new buildings would be built in place of the ones destroyed, but no matter how much they dressed them up, it still wouldn't get rid of the stain of the original that was lost, as well as all the lives in those walls. Not all was lost though, the country side had not sustained a lot of damage, and lives were being rebuilt. Houses and apartment buildings were some of the first to get destroyed, but they were also the first to get repaired. People began living in the city again once it was deemed safe. Most of the shops were rebuilt as well such as grocery stores and pharmacies.

It was terrible, the Aparoids knew exactly where to hit and how hard to hit it. Probably from the collective thoughts and memories they had gathered from those they had infected, they knew all the weaknesses, it only took a moment for the Queen to analyze her options and then send out her strike force. That was a nightmare that had finally began to fade from the minds of the populace, but these Imperials were going to renew that nightmare if they ever got their chance.

"Thank the Goddess for Star Fox..."

Pepper mumbled. He couldn't continue to do this for very long, so much conflict had taken its toll on everyone, but him most of all. To stand by and watch as lives were lost around him and walls tumble down.

"I need a vacation."

* * *

Great Fox, Imperial space territory, 6:10 p.m. Corneria standard time 

"All I'm saying is it wouldn't kill ya to get her number, dude."

"Shut up..."

Falco was leaning up against the spotless white wall of the medical center, watching as Tex stitched up the small cut on his cheek. It was a little deeper than the thought, but the adrenaline he possessed when he was fighting Kaiser made him virtually impervious to pain, but after that wore off it was a different story. He winced as he hit a sensitive spot with the small needle as he was threading it through his skin. Falco gave a sigh and simply chuckled at the stubborn lupine.

"Man, you sure are something. You save a girl, a hot one at that, and you don't even make a pass at her, she's even the same species as ya, and I'll bet she'll be pretty grateful for what ya did for her, savvy?"

Tex stopped threading his skin together and looked up at Falco from the small mirror he was leaning in front of.

"Yeah... I get what you're saying, but I didn't rescue her so we could hit it off in bed. The next girl who's in trouble, I'll let you save, then you can have your way with her, but I'm not like that."

"Hehe thanks but no thanks, pal. If Katt knew about that, she'd cut my manhood off. And I'm not sayin' ya gotta sleep with her, but at least get her number , I mean come on we all know you like her or did I not see you two sleeping together?"

Tex leaned back down to the mirror and continued to thread his skin back together. His fingers felt like they were made of lead as he tried to stitch the area under his left eye, which was causing him a bit of extra pain and a poor job. Falco leaned over him and watched as he poked himself with the needle again. Tex growled in frustration.

"Why don't you just let R.O.B do that for ya?"

"The day I let a machine do things for me is the day I take your words seriously."

"Whatever..."

Falco turned to leave Tex to himself. As he was about to exit the door, he turned around and quickly addressed the wolf.

"You need to get laid man, you're too tense."

Tex bolted up and raised his fists to the avian that quickly ran out the door and chuckled as he jogged down the hallway. Tex curled his lips back and snarled, then returned to his stitches. His mind began to wander as he stood in front of the reflective surface of the glass, mostly about the sleeping female that was in the room next to him. He stopped stitching himself again and stared at the white automatic door. His ears were laid flat on his head as he contemplated whether or not to go in and see her, but decided against it as he didn't want to disturb her.

He stared at his reflection in the clear glass of the mirror, moving his eyes up and down looking at the heavily scarred face oof the monster that stood in front of him. He had dark circles under his eyes that were half closed making him appear deprived of sleep. The brows that rested above his drooping eyelids were sharp at the tips and slightly curved at the back, making him look all the more intimidating as he glared.

"Your one ugly bastard, you know that?"

He said to himself. He then looked down at his paws; the tip of each finger was stained black from all the long years of working with rocket fuel and engine oil. His claws were also black in coloration, long and jagged, they curved at the tips, their sole purpose to rip and tear flesh and scale alike.

"Nothing but a killing machine aren't you, there isn't anything on you that you can't use to kill something isn't there?"

He glared and growled back at his reflection, baring his long sharp fangs. He grew angry with each passing second at himself. He hated himself, loathed himself; the fact that he was disgusted by himself made him disgusted even more. There wasn't one single thing he liked about himself, not his honor, not his life, nothing, he was empty.

"Empty..."

He growled, curling his lips back to expose more of his sinister teeth.

"Just empty...nothing left..."

After his minor episode of self loathing had begun to dwindle, his body stopped shaking with anger and his ears stood back up from his head again. It was when he heard the soft noise of a yawn of feminine origin did he completely relax his body. He turned around as the white door of the resting area of the medical center slid open, revealing a drowsy she wolf of about six feet in height with white front and hind paws. Vicky was clad in a pair of Tex's sweat pants and a dark blue t-shirt that was far too big for her. Since she was taller then Krystal, she would have needed bigger clothing so Tex offered some of his cloths to her as they were the closest build, it would be very big, but at least she would be comfortable.

She rubbed the corner of her eye and lightly smiled at Tex who was staring at her from the medical sink. He didn't return the smile but blinked his eyes instead and turned back to the mirror to resume his stitching session. He grunted and growled as he poked and prodded his skin, occasionally causing a trickle of blood to escape the cut. Vicky noticed that Tex was struggling so she walked up to him and observed what he was attempting to do.

"Would you like me to do that for you? I could make it cleaner for you."

Tex looked back at the female wolf and handed the tools to her. She took the offered needle and thread and asked Tex to sit on one of the stools while she sowed up his cut. He faced forward the entire time, listening to her hum some melody he had never heard before. As Vicky was working, she tired to engage Tex in conversation.

"A bit deeper then we thought, huh?"

His grey irises moved to her direction, then faced forward again as he spoke.

"Yeah..."

"Does it hurt?"

"Not really..."

"Then I guess I'm doing a good job."

She giggled, causing Tex to stiffen as he heard the bubbly laughter. He noticed that she seemed rather healthy despite her injuries, that nap seemed to be the best thing she needed. Tex moved his eyes towards her, making observations of any injuries that he might have missed while cleaning and bandaging her wounds as she slept on Crones. The sleeve that rested on her left shoulder began to slip off her, causing Tex to advert his gaze and lightly blush, but she hadn't noticed. He flinched as he felt the thread sliding through a freshly made hole in his skin, causing Vicky to stop.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

"It's not bad, I'll be fine."

She started to stitch again, picking up speed as she got the rhythm down and made sure each thread was strait and in order.

"You know what; I think this one might actually not scar at all. You took good care of it before you started stitching. Sure is hard trying to stitch it yourself, huh?"

"Yes..."

"Like I can tell you tried stitching that one scar on your face, am I right?"

"Yeah, I did it myself."

"Well, the important thing is that it's all better now, from how deep it looks it could have been a lot worse."

"...No...I think it was the worst it could have gotten..."

She quirked an eyebrow in confusion, but brushed it off and finished the stitches. She lightly patted the side of his face and admired her handy work.

"There good as new, just look how pretty you are."

She giggled as she positioned his face in front of the mirror. The cut was neatly closed and looked solid and durable. It would heal fast. He lightly poked it with a clawed finger, but his paw was soon slapped away from the wound by Vicky.

"Don't touch it, let it set!"

"Alright, fine!"

She rolled her eyes and giggled again. He looked back at the cut and lightly rubbed his fingers against the bristles of the thread only for his paw to be slapped away again.

"I said don't touch it, you sure are thick headed, but then again no wonder, you gave Kaiser one killer of a head butt back on Crones."

"Well my skull being thick didn't play too big a part in that."

"What do you mean?"

"Here, touch right about...here."

He pointed to the upper front of his forehead and gestured for Vicky to place her fingers on that spot. She gently pressed her fingers against his forehead and felt a stiff, slight rise under his skin. She gasped as she realized what she was touching.

"Is that...you got a-

"Yep, solid titanium, it's strong, light, and biocompatible. Got it from a drug kingpin who thought it would be funny to shoot me in the forehead with a high impact shell. Problem was, it didn't go through my skull, but it gave me a nice crack and a splitting headache."

She touched the spot a few more times, giving it a few pokes and taps from the tip of her finger.

"How...how did you survive?"

"Don't know, I blacked out a few minutes after it happened, but not before I gave the kingpin what he deserved. All I know is that when I woke up, I still had the headache. I was in the hospital, I could tell from the smells, latex and plastic. All I could hear was the doctor shouting 'he pulled through; I knew he could do it.' From what they told me, the shot was embedded into my skull, causing it to crack.

They pulled out the impact shell and slapped on a new patch for me. Then while I was in the hospital, they continued to examine me with magnetic resonance imaging since it was going to be a long term implant. They said it was durable and could stay in place for up to twenty years."

"Amazing what they can do these days."

"Yeah, you should see the equipment the big hospitals and emergency stations have these days, like something out of a sci-fi movie."

"How did they do it?"

"You're really interested in this aren't you?"

"Well since I can't ever get you to say more then one sentence, and the fact that I've never met anyone with a metal plate in their head, yeah I'm curios."

"Ok, it's kind of complicated, but I'll try and tell you what they told me. They prepared the titanium implant into my body by subjecting it with a high temperature plasma arc so it can remove the surface atoms to expose fresh titanium, then they instantly oxidized it. After that, they pretty much place it on the crack, set it firmly and screw it into place."

"Neat. Does it hurt?"

"No."

"If I hit you in that spot with like a hammer or something..."

"You'd give me a nice headache, and even though I doubt it, you could damage it and reopen the crack in my skull...or make me forget who I am."

She laughed at his attempt at humor. Tex chuckled and tapped his forehead with his fist a few times; making Vicky wince as she heard a _Thump, thump, thump,_ noise. Finally they both stopped laughing and simply starred at one another. The silence was beginning to feel very awkward towards one another. After a moment, Vicky broke the quiet atmosphere.

"Don't you just hate awkward silences?"

Tex cracked a smile and nodded.

"Yeah, sometimes it gets on my nerves. You know, I heard that's how you know you've met someone special, by being able to comfortably share a silence together."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Heard a couple talking about it while I was at a bar, they both had an awkward silence until the lady said that. Needless to say, I saw them dating again when I went to the bar the next day."

"That's cute, I love seeing that, makes me feel good at times like this. When were at war, we can still find peace and security in others. That's how I felt during the Lylat Wars anyway, before I joined the military."

"How old were you during the Lylat war?"

"Twelve when it first started and fifteen when it ended, why, how old were you?"

"I was eighteen when it first started. Finished the academy two years ago and was enrolled into a special program for gifted individuals. Then I fought in the war for all three years, about two years later, I heard Star Fox joined the war. It's strange, though I never met Star Fox during the war; yet now I'm sitting in their medical center eight years later, fate sure works in mysterious ways."

"Yeah, it does, causes things to happen, places to discover..."

"People to meet..."

They both stopped and stared at one another again. The silence was thick in the air, almost to the point of extremes, but they continued to stare at one another. Tex's eyelids began to fall again as he slowly moved closer towards Vicky's face. She relaxed her body and unlocked her shoulders, letting them lazily fall as she drew closer to Tex's muzzle. They both closed their eyes as they were in close proximity to one another's mouth, feeling the warm air that escaped out of each ones nose.

Tex tilted his head and Vicky placed both paws on his broad shoulders as their lips pressed against each others. They moved their lips against themselves, feeling their sweet, soft embrace. Tex moved his paws to cup both sides of her face as he delved deeper into the act of passion. He felt strange; his father left him at a young age so he never explained about "the birds and the bees," but Tex had somehow known how to react, perhaps it was instinct? No matter the case of natural response or sheer dumb luck, he enjoyed the feeling of it; he embraced it with no ounce of resistance.

Finally they pulled away from each other, gazing into the others eyes. His blazing grey irises probed into her majestic, deep blue ones. Se rested on his lap as he coiled his arms around her torso and slowly rubbed her back with his paws. Finally she spoke.

"Is that what you'd call an awkward silence?"

He rested his chin on top of her head as she placed her cheek against his chest and listened to his heartbeat.

"No, but I think I've just met someone really special."

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his mid section. Tex slowly moved his paws up and down her back, lightly pushing his claws into her skin, giving her back a massage and making her drowsy, causing her to emit a loud yawn. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Falco opened the door and stepped into the medical center, nearly giving both Tex and Vicky a heart attack. The male wolf quickly sat up as the female lupine hopped off his lap. Falco stood in the doorway as he noticed the hurried response of his entrance.

He cracked a smile and placed both of his feathered hands behind his head.

"Well now, what was that about, eh?"

Tex drew his ears back and glared at the annoying blue bird.

"Nothing, Lombardi, now get the hell out."

He spoke through clenched fangs and his voice had a growling edge to it. The expression on Vicky's face told exactly how she was feeling. _Damn bird, had to come in right then didn't you?_

"So whats goin' on in here?"

"Nothing, bird. Now get out."

"Really? It don't seem like nothing, otherwise you two wouldn't be scrambling off each other when I stepped in. You know you got your own room, Tex."

Before Tex made the move to crack Falco's beak into splinters, Vicky walked up to the tall avian and gave him a fierce uppercut in the jaw. She cracked her knuckles and wound her paw up for another strike as Falco picked himself off the floor.

"How dare you! You think I'm the kind of woman to sleep with the first guy I see? Get out of here before I make you shit out your own teeth!"

She cocked back her fist and flexed the toned muscles in her arm. He stood wide eyed as he rubbed his chin, _She hits like a wreaking ball, _he thought. Falco turned around and simply walked away, playing off that her punch didn't hurt as much as it truly did. Vicky turned around and blushed as she noticed Tex was staring at her with a perplexed look on his face.

"Sorry, but he's just so infuriating!"

"No, no its ok, I was about to do the same. I just didn't know you could be so..."

He couldn't find a word to finish his sentence, so he simply took his fist and slammed it against his open palm to describe her fury that she just recently displayed. She laughed at the gesture but was interrupted as she yawned again.

"I'm still a little tired, guess all that yelling took its toll on me."

"Then lets get you back into bed, your still not fully recovered."

Tex wrapped an arm around her shoulder as he led her back to the resting area and helped her climb into bed. He pulled the olive green blanket over her as she covered herself with the white sheets. She eased herself into the bed and rested her head on the pillow, looking back up at the tall lupine that stood at her bedside.

"Goodnight."

She spoke softly as she began to fall asleep.

"Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning."

Vicky smiled at the promise that she would see him again. She then closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep. Tex watched her quickly fall asleep, slowly reaching out and running his fingers through her short, soft hair. She sighed in comfort as she felt his touch. He bent down low to plant a soft kiss on her cheek and quietly walked out the room, flicking off the light switch as he left.

Tex walked back up to the sink and looked at the freshly stitched cut on his cheek. She had done a very good job on the repairs, it was strait and even, not one thread out of place. After inspecting that small area of his face, he looked at the rest of himself and sighed at what he saw. _How the hell can she see anything in you, ugly,_ he thought to himself. It was true, he wasn't much on looks, the scars on his face covered up a face that was strikingly similar to his father's.

He looked back at the door that held probably the only person Tex considered a friend, at least the only friend still alive. He sighed again as he wondered if it was wise for him to open up or stay cold and stoic as he always had. He then thought about what she wanted; if she wanted him, he would open up to her, but if she didn't then nothing lost nothing gained. He stood up and walked out of the medical center. As he stopped at the doorway, he swung back to face the automatic door of the resting area.

Bringing his padded palm to his lips, he kissed his paw and then blew against it. After he sent the imaginary kiss flying towards the door he flicked the lights off in the medical center and walked back towards the bridge. He then chuckled to himself as he thought of Falco explaining how he got that bump on his beak to his fellow mercenaries.

* * *

_Author's note: This is the part where you go 'Awwwww.' As you can tell, this is the beginning of the romantic area of the story, but don't fret all you thrill seekers, Star Fox aren't done cracking Imperial skulls just yet. R&R and as always thanks for the current and future support._

* * *


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Great Fox, Imperial space territory, 7:20 p.m. Corneria standard time 

The bridge of the Great Fox was rather quiet. Aside from Fox, ROB and the just arriving Falco, it was a bit dull. The vulpine was busy clicking away at the small keyboard that was connected to his station on the bridge, looking at certain areas of this territory in space and learning as much information he could on this passing trip. His brain was converting into jelly as he continued to stare into the complex readouts of this area in the universe_. They sure aren't lacking in information here, _he thought. Finally he looked up from his screen and noticed that Falco was sitting reclined in his seat and tapping his foot as usual, but he also noticed that the avian was rubbing a certain area of his lower beak.

"Hey, Falco didn't see you come in, something wrong with your jaw?"

Falco looked up from the floor and ceased rubbing his chin. With shifting eyes he responded to the question.

"Uh, yeah I just walked into a door that's all."

Fox knew he wasn't telling the whole truth but simply rolled his eyes and shook his head with a grin. He looked back at the digital readout of the clock. The night had just started but already Fox felt very fatigued. He shot a glance to ROB who was typing on multiple computer panels with his retractable arms.

"Hey ROB I think were done for the day, you can shut down and recharge for the night."

The android swiveled his metallic head and clicked off the terminal that he was currently working on. He had been searching for information on the Imperial's culture and history for the last few hours while the team was on Crones, but no complete files on their origins or political standings could be located, only information about their territories. ROB nodded his head and addressed the orange vulpine.

"Affirmative, preparing for shut down sequence."

As he walked back to his power station, the robot stopped and turned his red tinted gaze in Falco's direction.

"My scanners indicate that Falco has sustained a minor injury to the jaw, origins of the injury are likely to have been caused by a strong physical blow to the effected area."

"Yeah, he says he walked into a door."

"Interesting..."

ROB's monotone voice mustered as much sarcasm as it could, and then walked away towards the power outlet for its recharging station. Fox returned his emerald gaze to the computer screen again, only for it to be torn away as he heard the subtle hiss of the automatic sliding door. The towering form of Tex walked onto the bridge of the Great Fox and panned his gaze at the other animals that were assembled there. Fox was the first to address him.

"Hey Tex, how's our passenger doing?"

"She's ok."

His deep voice gave off an echo down the hallway as he was still standing in the doorway of the bridge. He walked a few paces and slumped down in the chair across from Falco so he could stare out the window. With a paw on his chin, he counted the small twinkles of the stars that were spread throughout the galaxy, lazily drifting in the darkness. He opened his mouth to its fullest and yawned, and then went back to counting the cosmos. He took his eyes off the glass of the window and looked to his right and saw Falco rubbing the tender spot on his chin again.

"Hey Falco, that's quite a bump you got there."

His voice held a malevolent edge to it as he mustered the closest thing to a smile that his lips could form. Falco looked back at him and drew his brows together into a glare.

"Yeah, I walked into a door, that's all."

"Well, guess you should be more careful."

The smirk the lupine displayed on his face caused the tip of one of his fangs to become exposed. This seemed to put the bird on edge and he quickly sat up and walked towards the sliding automatic door.

"Think I'll turn in for the night, don't fry your brain too much foxy, and see ya around leather face."

Tex's smirk quickly disappeared and his permanent glare intensified as he watched the avian depart from the room. The bridge was silent yet again, only the subtle sound of button clicking and mouse tapping of Fox's computer could be heard. Tex enjoyed the silence; it always helped him "find his center" as he put it. Finally the silence was broken as Fox's voice pierced the quiet setting.

"So how did Falco really get that bump on his chin?"

Tex swiveled his gaze in the fox's direction and his smirk returned to his lips.

"He overstepped his boundaries with our new arrival; she didn't take too kindly to what he said."

Fox burst into laughter as he heard this. Tex's smirk widened as he waited for the fox to subside his laughter. When he finally stopped, Fox continued on the subject.

"And here I thought it was you who gave it to him, but Victoria, you know I'll never let him forget this right?"

"Oh absolutely, I was surprised that Vicky actually did that, and not to mention she nearly dislocated his jaw. You should have seen it, like a wreaking ball crashing into a building, BAM!"

He punched his open palm as he shouted out. Fox chuckled at the wolf's explanation, then quickly drew silent again as he heard Tex start to speak again.

"I kissed her..."

His gaze was burning a hole in the floor and his paws were placed together as he laced his fingers. Fox maintained a serious outlook on this. The wolf was wise to talk to him about this, Slippy didn't have too much knowledge about this subject, and Falco...well they didn't really need to explain Falco.

"I see..."

His voice held no sarcasm, nor did he make any remarks. He could tell that Tex didn't have very much experience in this field; he silently wished that Peppy was still with the team, he would be better than himself at this.

"Was it nice?"

Was all that he could think of saying, it wasn't the most intelligent way to respond but Tex didn't seem to mind.

"Yes...it was very nice."

"So what are you going to do about her?"

Tex looked up from the floor and lifted his pointed ears to their fullest height.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to pursue her, make an effort towards her?"

He looked back down at the floor and deeply inhaled.

"I don't know...it's complicated. I think it would be best if we went our separate ways honestly."

"Really, why do you think that?"

"Because were both far too different. She's a respectable member of the Cornerian military, and me, I kill people and smell like rocket fuel, were like oil and water."

Fox grinned and lightly shook his head. He began to speak only to be cut off again.

"And...I've had bad experiences with this certain subject."

"What happened?"

The wolf looked in Fox's direction and told him the story that became a source of his many nightmares.

"Did you happen to hear the story of a military disaster about eight years ago?"

"Yeah, I saw it on the news; a group of military specialists were massacred, why?"

"I was in it..."

The vulpine's eyes slightly widened and his white brows rose in interest.

"We, my team I mean, were a group of subjects that were handpicked for our abilities and status. We were top graduates in the academy and a Cornerian military program needed...subjects."

"I see, and you were one of these subjects?"

"Yes, I was the youngest of all us four that were selected. My teammates graduated a few years before me and were already enlisted in the experiment. Corneria wanted to create a new type of soldier; one that they claimed would be 'perfect and unstoppable.' For a few months they stuck me in a glass tube and downloaded complex programming into my brain, combat techniques, mechanical knowledge, that sort of thing. Since I had the highest I.Q. on Corneria, they downloaded my mind with some of the most complex programs that could even overload a computer's brain.

I was rather mad at what they did to me. I felt different when I finally came out of the tube, but I survived the download and experiments and I was already physically prepared for the program, my teammates had cybernetic enhancements while I was accounted for no further improvements. We spent time in weapons and combat training, as well as our own specialties, mine was strategy and infiltration since I was intelligent and 'like a shadow on the wall' as they described me. When training was completed, we became a covert agency that almost no one was allowed to know; only a select few knew, including Pepper, we were dubbed Ghosts. We were meant as a unit that was created for taking out specific targets of the Venom political parties, completely discrete and secret."

"Assassins..."

"Yes. No one knew, no could know. But since the agency no longer exists, I think it's safe to tell you. When the war was coming to a close, we were assigned to take out a Venom chancellor who was aware that he was targeted for assassination. We...were ambushed and my teammates...my friends, they were all killed.

One of them, a woman named Jennifer Cross...I grew quite attached to her."

"You were the only survivor?"

"Yes. I escaped, but not without a reminder of that day."

Tex turned his head and pointed a clawed finger to the long ragged scar that crossed his left eye and ran down to his chin. Fox cut in, throwing his paws in front of himself.

"Wait, I heard that all of the agents were killed."

"All but me, they held me accounted for the failure of the mission so they decommissioned me. Most of my files were destroyed, along with my involvement in the military and the 'Ghost program.' They held me in a containment area for a few months; Pepper would always come to visit me from time to time since he was a good friend of my fathers. He apologized but he held firm on his standings in the military and refused to help me, hence the disrespect. After that, they took me and I was ordered to have my memory erased so that this would never be known to the public."

"Incredible...what did you do?"

"I refused and fought back against the powers I once assisted. I took my ship and flew out of Corneria. I revoked my citizenship and all my identifications and files that marked me a citizen of the city, and I hid from them for a couple of years. My friends, my only family I had left were taken from me, by the same people that took away my mother and father. I was proclaimed dead by the media, which was exactly how I felt, that's why I refer to myself as no longer living.

I loved Jenna very much, but we never got the chance for a relationship. We dated and grew close during our free time that the government deemed fit for us. We weren't meant to become close thought, we were made for killing, not love. The scientists knew we were developing a romantic relationship, they explained to me that we could never be married if our relationship grew to that point, they told me Jenna could never be a mother and bare healthy children, we could never be a normal family."

His voice trailed off and was beginning to become shaky as visions flashed through his minds eye. He wiped the moisture from his eyes and stole a deep breath.

"The experiments had taken their tolls on all of us. We couldn't be citizens; we were on constant surveillance for any erratic behavior that might have occurred as a side effect. Since they were modified, it destroyed their reproductive systems, causing them to lose the ability to bare children. I barely felt like myself anymore, I felt like I was lost in another body, like I didn't belong in the one I'm in now. I thank the Goddess everyday that they didn't give me any genetic modifications, but Jenna...I can't imagine how she felt when they told her she would never be a mother. "

Fox was silent; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had no idea Corneria had done such things before. But from what he was hearing, if they had not done this, then the Lylat War may have been very different. He might have only just realized it, but he probably owed his life to this lupine at least once. Who knows, Fox may not even be here if this wolf hadn't done his part in the war.

He noticed Tex's ear twitch to an unheard noise. They both turned their gaze to the automatic door that opened up to the bridge. There was a small crack in the door and they could both see a slight shadow on the other side of the door. The lupine stood up from his seat and addressed Fox. As he stood, the shadow seemed to depart from view.

"We both fought in this war and altered our fates because of it. Thank you for listening and helping me and my team stop Venom, even though you didn't know, you helped them and me greatly. I'm going to bed, goodnight."

Fox could only stare at the lupine as he departed. He couldn't find any words to say so he simply nodded his head in Tex's direction in gratitude. As Tex opened the door to leave, the empty hallway was the only thing to greet him. He could have sworn that he heard something, not to mention the silhouette that he noticed on the other side of the door._Just your mind screwing with you, get some rest,_ the voice inside his head reassured him and he walked back to his assigned room.

He slid the door open and stepped into the darkened room. The blinds of the window were pulled back, revealing the infinite expanses of space and the only light source in the room. He undressed down to his boxer shorts and climbed into bed. He pulled off the military tags that had his father's name printed onto the metal and placed it on the dresser next to the small clock. He untied the blood red scarf he wore across his forehead and retied it against one of the bedposts.

The small locks of hair that grew in spiked tufts near the front of his head began to droop down as he took off his scarf. Combing the hairs back with his fingers, he yawned and felt his eyes fill with moisture. Then laying his head against the pillow he slammed his eyes shut and tired to relax. He wiggled his clawed feet and groaned in annoyance as he realized that his legs hung halfway off the small bed. He always wondered if he would ever stop growing when he was younger.

During his high school years he feared he would grow so tall that it would become a health hazard. But by his eleventh year he had reached his fullest height and towered over nearly every other of his fellow students. He tried to get comfortable in the small bed, tossing and turning until he finally gave up. But being stubborn, he worked his mind on a solution to his dilemma. A thought came to him and he tore off the blankets and pulled on a pair of pants.

Walking out to the open hallway, Tex made his way to the commons of the ship. Opening the door to the lounge room, he grabbed two chairs and a few seat cushions and headed back to his room. He placed both chairs at the end of the bed and placed the cushions on the seats then climbed back into bed. His feet rested on the padded seats and he smirked at his success. He clutched a section of the bed and spoke to it with a cocky edge to his voice.

"I win."

He slumped back down on the bed and closed his eyes. Drowsiness soon took over him and he began drifting off into the clutches of sleep. Though most would embrace the feeling of falling asleep, the wolf resisted it as best to his ability, trying not to completely fall into sleep for fear that his subconscious would be tormented with another nightmare. His body relaxed and his breathing became more calmed and slowed in pace. He soon saw images flowing into his mind like a hurricane.

_Well, here's to another sleepless night,_ his inner voice assured him.

* * *

Imperial Capital Planet, main repair station, 12:55 a.m. local time 

A dimly lit area in the repair station of the Capital Planet was filled with activity. A complex medical robot was busy performing multiple surgeries on a heavily damaged body of an Imperial officer. The painful procedures were causing the injured soldier to scream in agony as the medical droid continued to drill and weld areas of his body to replace the lost and damaged limbs and inner working of his form. A shadowy figure stepped into the room and watched as the howling animal was being repaired.

"Is the procedure running its course correctly?"

His voice held a tone that could freeze the blood. The screaming animal however was in too much pain to feel the chilling effect his voice held. The robot stopped its program and swiveled in the cloaked forms direction. Opening up a panel in its chest, it displayed the vital readout of the subject that was on the operating table. His signs were improving, but the mental stress that the pain was causing was proving to add problems.

From under his coal black hood, the visitor moved up to the table and examined the mutilated body of his Lieutenant.

"Kaiser..."

The coyote slowly turned his head to look up with his one remaining eye at the shadowy form that was standing above him.

"Yes death?"

"Let us not deal with your humor for now. I plucked your body from that pit so you can continue to serve me, not for me to hear your sarcasm. You have skill that most of my other Black Ops do not possess, so your life is still valuable to me...for now."

Kaiser drew his lips back to reveal what was left of his teeth. A small tube was embedded in his esophagus to help his breathing. The searing hot air from the lava exposure had burnt his lungs and charred his throat. The left side of his face was devoid of fur; only rough burnt flesh could be seen spreading down his neck. His left ear was also gone, leaving a gnarled stump in its place.

The right side of his face was surprisingly undamaged; the fur still grew healthy and thick on his right side. However his left arm was surgically removed from too much damage caused to it and was in the process of being replaced with a cybernetic one. Thomas Kaiser looked his lowest, defeated by just one man who was no more than a lowly mercenary garbage pile. The robot continued its program and began removing more pieces of dead skin from the coyote's chest and fusing his nerves together with the cybernetic receptors of his new arm. He growled in pain as he felt the entire procedure.

"Enough of your weak cries of pain, you should appreciate that I'm even considering putting my funding into your survival. You will listen to me well, yes?"

The cloaked form revealed one of his clawed paws and grasped the rough skin around the coyote's neck and pulling their faces closer.

"You will not fail me this time. With the new modifications I am giving you, I expect to not see you in here again, am I clear?"

Kaiser laid his one remaining ear flat on his head in anger and glared with his only eye. He slowly nodded his head up and down and was then slumped back down on the operating table.

"Crystal clear, I don't plan to fail."

"Not if you want to live to see your debt is paid. Now stand still..."

A large mechanical arm extended out of the medical robot's chest and slowly moved towards Kaiser's face. Clutched in its metal claw was a small sphere with thin, long needle like appendages sticking out of its backside. It was slowly closing in on his empty left eye socket and he soon realized that it was his replacement eye. His head had to be restrained as he tried to inch his face away from the sinister looking needles that would soon be injected into his eye socket. From under the hooded cloak, Kaiser could see a gleaming white smile painted on his superior's face.

"Stay calm Kaiser, it should be over very soon."

The coyote tried to thrash his head away from the needles that were uncomfortably close to his damaged eye socket. With almost no effort, the restraints held his head in place and causing Kaiser to start twitching in anticipation of the pain that would soon shoot into his head.

"You might feel a momentary discomfort."

* * *

_Author's note: Thought I'd give you all something to read over the weekend. I'm working on the next chapter as we speak and after about reading over it about four times now, I believe it's almost ready. R&R and as always, your reviews are greatly appreciated. _


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

_The cold liquid surrounded his body, embracing him in a chilling grip where there was no escape from. Despite the sensation of being fully submerged in water and its freezing temperature, Tex felt strangely at ease. His fingers twitched, causing a small swell in the water that he felt moving through his fur. The water seemed to move with his body instead of against it, which was odd. Normally he would feel at least some pressure against his body, but instead felt the water flowing with his body and not in the opposite direction._

_The wolf felt a surge of energy run into his body, causing him to violently twitch. After the powerful shock, images flew into his mind. He saw readouts of highly advanced technology, and yet he felt as if he knew exactly how each device worked and functioned. Another surge, this time it was images of the anatomy of many different forms of animals, going into detail of how each internal system worked and what could be used to disrupt or completely stop it from functioning. His limbs twitched on their own this time, noticing immediately that he had tubes and wires attached to each arm and leg._

_The O2 mask that was placed over his snout blasted his nostrils with a continuous flow of pure oxygen. He tried to pry his eyes open but some unknown force was stopping them from obeying his command, keeping him wondering what was going on. With all the strength he could muster, he lifted his arms in front of him and felt the smooth surface of glass against his paws and he realized that he was entrapped inside a cylinder shaped tube. Another surge of energy found its way into his body; running up to his head and feeling the current stimulate his brain. He forced his eyes open and felt the cold liquid quickly rush into his irises, but he did not flinch in the slightest._

_He looked at the wavering forms on the other side of the glass, watching as they stood in front of his liquid prison, filling out their notepads with observations. From what he could tell, a male mole clad in a white lab coat walked up closer to the glass and gently tapped against it with his clawed finger. Tex swiveled his head in the direction of the tapping noise and listened as he heard the mole's voice slightly muffled from the water that was filling his ears._

"_You're going to make us all very proud."_

_The wolf flattened his pointed ears against his grey head in anger. He responded by kicking the glass with his foot, startling the mole and causing him to fumble for his glasses as they slipped off the end of his nose. Before he could do anything else, another surge attacked his body and filled his vision with more images. They began to mesh with his distant memories, only they became distorted and more intense. He saw his father, his body drenched in a crimson liquid that smelt horrid. Another shift in his memories and he saw his mother's smiling face as she applied a fresh bandage to a small scrap on his knee. Kissing his knee, she padded the spot and reassured him he would be ok. Another shift and he soon saw his father again, alive and well, yet his face displayed a look of pure sorrow and emptiness. _

_Tex ran up to his father as he was stepping off the landing craft and slowly walked towards his son. _

"_Dad, your back your back, I missed you and Mom!"_

_Mark merely looked down at the smiling little pup that was hugging his leg and placed a paw on the infant's head. Tex looked behind his father's towering form and noticed that his mother had not stepped off the ship to join them. Mark observed this and slowly knelt down to face his son. _

"_Where's Mom, is she on another space ship?"_

_Tex's father slowly hugged the youth and squeezed tight. Tex was beginning to feel uneasy at his father's silence so he restated his question._

"_Dad, where did Mom go?"_

_Mark picked up the smaller wolf and carried him back to their room. He sat Tex on the bed and hung his head low, this had to be the hardest thing he had ever done in his entire life. He slowly inhaled a deep breath and then turned to his son, tears filling his eyes and rolling down his cheeks like two miniature waterfalls._

"_Tex, your mother...she had to go away..."_

_Tex, being so young had not grasped the meaning of his father's words or the reason that he was crying. He thought he was crying because he got hurt so he walked into the bathroom and grabbed a box of band aids. He offered one to him but tears continued to fall from his father's eyes and he hugged his son close to him again._

"_Will she come back soon?"_

_Tex's little voice began to quiver as tears began to form in his eyes. Somehow he knew something had gone horribly wrong, his father only addressed him by his name if it was a very serious subject._

"_I'm so sorry Tex; she's gone to live with the Goddess...up in the heavens. But she wants you to know that she loves you very much...and she misses you..."_

"_I miss her too, Dad."_

_Mark kissed his son's forehead and they continued to cry together. Then he shocked back into realization by another surge of energy._

* * *

Great Fox guest room, 4:05 a.m. Corneria standard time

Tex quickly sprang from his bed and roared in horror as he felt the sensation of the surges of energy that he was recently feeling. He sat on the bed for a short time, his feet still propped up on the cushioned chairs at the end of the mattress. His quickly patted his body down to see if any of the imaginary wires and cables were still connected to his limbs. After he confirmed that it was only a dream, he wiped off the sweat that covered his face and stood up from the bed. He went into the bathroom to grab a towel and dried himself off, violently panting as he stared at his reflection in the mirror.

After staring at his skittish expression and his shifting irises, he hung up the towel and walked back into the bedroom. He looked at the clock on the dresser in the room and noticed that it was ten minutes past four. Another night of unrest, he didn't dare try to go back to sleep, but instead pulled on a white wife-beater and a pair of sweats and walked to the kitchen for something to drink so he could calm down. The kitchen door slid open, revealing the already lit kitchen. He sniffed the air around him with his sharp sense of smell and caught a whiff of an unfamiliar scent. 

As he slowly walked into the kitchen, resting all his weight on the front of his hind paws in case he would need to pounce at a moments notice, he continued to sniff the surrounding area.

"Morning, Tex."

The wolf nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard a soft voice from behind him. He jumped into the air and did a one-eighty to face the owner of the voice. Instead of something hostile, he faced the smiling face of Victoria.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I scare you?"

She covered her mouth with both of her milky white paws and took a few steps towards the shaking male lupine.

"S-scared, you nearly made my heart pop like a grape!"

She giggled and patted the side of his face. He slightly winced as he felt her palm against his face but his shaking began to slow down when she began to rub it. Vicky noticed that his pupils were as small as the tips of a needle and he was panting hard, so she moved closer to try and comfort him.

"I'm sorry if I scared you this bad, I didn't mean to freak you out like this."

Tex shook his head and refocused on Vicky's voice.

"Huh, oh, uh yeah, yeah it's ok, I- I'm ok."

_You're lying again,_ his inner voice snickered, _you're about as ok as a snowman on Solar._ He refocused on Vicky again as he heard her speaking to him.

"Trouble sleeping?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you're awake, and no normal person gets up at four in the morning."

"I guess so...but then why are you awake?"

"Needed a glass of water, did you have a bad dream or something?"

Tex stared at Vicky for another moment then walked over to the fridge to find something to drink, completely ignoring her question. She realized he wouldn't answer it any time soon so she asked him again, only for him to try and pretend that he hadn't heard her. Tex shifted around in the fridge until he pulled out a glass bottle of some brand of beer he had never heard of before. He held the bottle up to his face and tried to pronounce its name.

"What is an_ Aster,_never heard of it before?"

She looked at the brown bottle clutched in his paw.

"It's new, not sure how it tastes. A guy named Martin Aster brewed it."

He shrugged and pried the cap off with his teeth and took a large gulp of the amber liquid. As he was enjoying his drink, Vicky stood in front of him with her arms folded over her chest, determination blazing in her eyes.

"Tex, why won't you answer my question?"

The male wolf slowly pulled the bottle away from his lips and stared down at her. Tex tried to change the subject by offering her a bottle of Aster but she didn't move an inch and continued to stare at him with her arms crossed. Finally he gave in to her iron determination and answered her.

"Yes I had a nightmare, drink?"

"What was it about?"

She asked as she reached for the offered beverage. Tex took another gulp of his drink, making a loud _glug _sound as it poured down his throat and sighed.

"...It was about my parents."

"What happened?"

The tone of her voice made it apparent that she was very interested as she took a sip of her drink. She still knew very little about Tex, perhaps by talking about his parents she could get him to open up to her. With her full attention, Tex took another sip of Aster and then began telling her what he remembered.

"...My parents aren't a subject I usually enjoy talking about. The dream was a past memory I had when I was little, about six I think. My family and I were living on a space station that orbited around Corneria. Both my parents made their homes on that station for most of their military career; it's where they met actually. They got married and had me on that station even.

Since my parents often went on missions for Corneria, I was usually left on the station doing my studies until they came back. But one day, they were sent along with representatives to Venom to try and ease the growing tension between the two groups. Andross had just been banished there and was causing rather large scale uproars with the locals. My father, my mother, a small squad and two Cornerian emissaries were sent to Venom...only my father came back."

Tex paused, letting the meaning of what he was saying soak in. Vicky still stood in front of him and grew very stiff as she felt the weight of his words. She put the drink down on the kitchen counter and coiled her small fingers around his large, scar covered paw. His rough palms began to grow warm as he felt the heat from her paws being transferred into his. He moved his paws so that both their palms were pressed together.

Her paws were only half as big as his were and his fingers were almost two inches longer then her own. They laced their clawed fingers together and simply looked at each other for a moment. Tex then quickly pulled away, regaining his composure and trying to remain stoic. He cleared his throat and turned his head to stare out the window. His notched right ear twitched as he heard Vicky speak from behind him.

"I-I'm sorry about your loss. It must have been hard for you at such a young age..."

Still facing away from her, Tex responded to her sympathy.

"Yes it was...thank you."

As he remembered the distant memories of his youth, Tex wiped the moisture that was collecting in his eyes and silently cursing him for showing emotion. He grappled with his inner voice on how to deal with his emotions that continued to try and bubble up to the surface.

_Of course, stay stoic and unfeeling, we both know that's working well for you, _his inner voice sneered with sarcasm. He smacked the side of his head to try and stifle the voice that was oozing with overconfidence and cockiness.

_Shut up damn you, I don't need to hear you telling me how to live, _he shot back. He was so engrossed in his argument that he almost forgot Vicky was standing right there. He soon realized and quickly turned around to see a very confused looking female wolf staring at him. 

After an agonizing five minutes of complete silence, Vicky placed a paw on his shoulder, noticing the moisture that still clung to his eyes. Her paws moved up to cup the side of his face, pulling their muzzles closer together. Tex's normally half closed eyes quickly shot open to their fullest and his ears stood their tallest on his head. The two lupine's noses came into contact with each other, feeling the soft, cold surface of the coal black tips. Their lips were close to touching, aching and quivering in anticipation of feeling each other's mouth mesh together. 

Their advances towards each other's lips were interrupted as they both felt the ship do a violent jolt as if something had struck it. Their faces pulled away from each other as they felt the hard shake of the Great Fox.

"That didn't sound like any asteroid."

Vicky tightened her grip on Tex's forearms in worry. He slowly pulled out of her embrace and stared out the window into the dark expanse of the cosmos. It was true; there were no asteroids in sight. But Tex did see something that caught his eye, a silhouette of what appeared to be a transparent hull of a ship. Then he realized immediately that he was in fact staring at a cloaked vessel, most likely a fighter class, and also likely there was more then one out there.

He ran out of the kitchen and looked for the nearest alarm system. He stormed onto the bridge of the Great Fox and scanned every control console until he found what he was looking for. He slammed his elbow into the glass that incased a bright red button, shattering it and then pounded his fist against the button, causing the alarms to scream to life and startle everyone out of their sound sleep. A few moments later, a group of irritated and startled looking animals poured onto the bridge and immediately focused their attention on the tall lupine standing next to the alarm button. Fox was the first to speak up.

"What the hell is going on!"

He was rather annoyed that he was ripped away from his sleep, his emotions clearly displayed in his voice. The others gave Tex a similar response.

"Were being trailed, stealth fighters are surrounding the ship. One of them bumped into the hull and I caught a glimpse of them."

He slammed his fist on the alarm system to silence it and waited for Fox to start barking orders. The orange vulpine stepped up to the controls and initiated a short range scan of the area. Sure enough, eight unknown aircraft blips appeared around the Great Fox in an ambush formation. 

"Alright, you all know the drill, time to show your flight skills Tex."

The male lupine cracked his knuckles and made his way to the docking bay. On his way there, he grabbed his blue flight jacket off the hook in his room and put it on over his wife-beater, then slipped on his black, steel toed boots and tied his father's scarf around his forehead. He felt rather silly going into combat in his pajamas, but the circumstances called for action now, not later. Everyone else was waiting for him as Tex stepped out onto the dock. He mentally chuckled as he noticed that Fox and the others were still in their sleep wear. Fox had donned his white flight jacket with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, while Falco for some reason had his dark sunglasses resting on his brow along with a studded dark green leather jacket.

Krystal was clad in a pair of sweat pants with a grey padded vest and slippers. Slippy, looking tired as ever, had his red hat resting in between his large circular eyes and his fingerless knuckle gloves. Trying to stay serious in this rather strange and amusing scene, each animal climbed into their fighters. The mechanical voice on the intercom blared out the "all clear" signal and each ship was launched into space. Tex immediately set his modified ship's interface to be able to see the cloaked fighters clearly.

The arwings drew in formation for attack and scattered, scanning the surrounding area for a ship signal. Tex didn't follow the formation, but instead ran off on his own attack plan. Shooting into empty space, Tex dove and circled around at an unseen foe, causing his comm. link to buzz to life.

"Tex, what are you doing? Shooting blindly like that won't solve anything; we need to wait until we find their signals."

Slippy's green face was displayed on the screen of Tex's monitor but he ignored and continued to shoot. His blasts came in contact with an object, and an enemy fighter appeared out of a storm of electric discharge. 

"I can see them just fine. I'll shake them out of hiding while the rest of you take them down."

Tex craned his neck, causing it to crack and then gripped his fighter's controls. The wolf continued to execute amazing maneuvers with his ship, turning and swerving as if it were a fish swimming in an ocean. He initiated another loop and somersaulted over another fighter, positioning himself right behind it. He ripped the wings from the vessel and disrupted its stealth field. With a well placed shot that laced through the cockpit, another ship was destroyed. 

Fox's voice blared out of the comm. link as the mercenaries ripped apart the small squad of ambushers.

"See if we can't take any alive, they could be a good source of information."

Everyone's collective voice called out a "Rodger," at McCloud's command. The arwings spread from another and scattered for the five remaining fighters. Since the team knew that they were being followed, the ambushers deactivated their cloaking fields and disengaged from their original course. One of the fighters came up to fly directly behind Slippy's ship, unloading a barrage of fire on the toad. 

"I could use a little help here!"

Fox was having trouble with his own target and was unable to help. Falco was being trailed by two fighters, as Krystal was only beginning to down her target. Slippy called for help again, but his only responses were "hold on a sec," from his teammates. As he looked into the rear viewing screen to see the fighter still on his six, Slippy's eyes widened to see the ship suddenly burst into a ball of fire.

"How's that work for you?"

Slippy heard the deep voice of Tex over his intercom and watched as the sleek vessel sailed past him.

"Yeah, that works for me, thanks Tex, I owe you one."

Three ships remained, and they were proving rather difficult targets. When they reached a smaller number, the ambushers began using a different strategy, quickly shifting in and out of stealth mode so that it was nearly impossible to keep a lock on their fighters. The flaps on their afterburners expanded and the engines roared to life, propelling them faster as they swerved and continued to fade and reappear into space. Fox wiped the sweat that was accumulating on his brow and ground his fangs together. 

"I can't get a lock on any of them, whoever they are, they are amazing pilots these three."

Tex tried to expand his locking systems to try and pinpoint a position, only for it to be irritatingly interrupted as the ship was lost from view again. He padded the console of his ship.

"C'mon baby, don't loose your cool now."

He whispered. He smirked as he realized a key flaw in the ship's strategy. From quickly shifting in and out of stealth mode, they were exhausting their fuel very quickly; it wouldn't be long until they would be reduced to floating around in space. His grey gaze quickly swerved to spot a ship that had dispersed its cloaking field to try and conserve its fuel supply, now was the time for Tex to make his move. He clicked on the afterburners and bolted right at the ship at reckless speeds.

Fox watched from the corner of his emerald green eye and noticed that Tex was charging far too fast to maneuver out of the way of his target. He watched with his full attention as Tex was dangerously close to plowing right into the ambusher. After only a few inches away from impact, Tex quickly tilted his ship so that the end of his wing sliced into the hull of the enemy fighter. The stealth fighter's hull was split in half by the edge of Tex's wing, causing Fox's eyebrows to lift. _Well your just full of surprises_, the vulpine thought to himself as he tore away at the last remaining ship that had finally exhausted its fuel. 

With its fuel gone, and its wing ripped to pieces, the arwings attached a towing cable to the incapacitated fighter and pulled it back to the Great Fox's docking station. As they all landed in the dock, they secured the hostile ship and quickly disabled all its systems. Tex's ship had just landed, shifting its form and retracting its wings so that they folded at the sides and above the windshield of the cockpit, transforming it into a more compact and sleek shape. As the wolf climbed out of his fighter, Falco had climbed up onto the hull of the ambush fighter and manually pried off the glass hatch of the cockpit. With Fox behind him, Falco lifted up the disabled pilot that was clad in a black, full body flight suit and endurance helmet.

The symbol of a dark red fist clutching a hammer was painted on the sleek chest plate of the black flight suit. Falco tore off the helmet, not bothering to detach the oxygen tubes that were attached from the mouthpiece of the helmet to the gas tank that was slung on the pilot's waist. Pressurized oxygen hissed out of the tubes as the helmet was thrown to the floor and the blue avian tightened his grip on the exposed neck of the spotted ocelot Imperial. The avian tossed the feline to the floor of the docking bay as the mercenary team surrounded his fallen form. The ocelot slowly drew his paw behind himself to reach for a blaster, but quickly stopped as he heard the mechanical click of Fox thumbing back the hammer on his pistol.

"Don't try it; we wouldn't want you to leave a stain on our dock floors."

Tex had joined the circle of animals and stared down at the frozen feline. He walked up to the ocelot and bent down so that they met eye level. With an eerie calm in his voice, Tex began to question the Imperial.

"Why were you trailing us?"

The Imperial stayed silent, tightly pressing his lips together. Tex asked him again, only for the same result to occur. The ocelot's stubbornness was beginning to become irritating, but the ever patient Tex asked him the question a third time. After another silence, the intimidating wolf lifted the small feline by the collar of his suit with one hand and carried him off the docks. The lupine stopped his advances to the door as he heard the sound of Krystal's voice from behind him. 

"Where are you taking him?"

Tex, still holding onto the pilot turned around to face the group of animals and simply said:

"Somewhere more quiet."

She scanned his mind and gasped at what she saw. His deep voice echoed through the large room of the docking bay as he spoke.

"I'm going to need a large tub of water, some cables, and a blow torch if you have one."

The ocelot's golden eyes grew large and his lower lip quivered in fear as he realized what the wolf was planning.

"Hang on there big guy."

Falco stepped up and confronted Tex.

"Let's just lock him up for now; we don't have to rip his arms off just yet. Give him a few days locked up in a cell that should loosen his lips up a bit, ya gettin' me?"

The wolf stood and looked at the avian for a moment longer, a bone chilling glare painted on his grey face. He stood there, staring at Falco for a short while, then simply let go of the ocelot, letting the feline fall to the floor and land on his tail. Tex kept constant eye contact with the bird as he walked up to him, standing so close that Falco could notice the slight emptiness in the wolf's fierce grey irises. Tex looked past Falco and noticed the other animals were staring, anticipating a fight would erupt at any moment between the two arguing mercenaries. Fox stood at full attention, waiting to spring into action and break up the brawl.

Instead, Tex looked back down at Falco and then turned his back to leave. The avian mentally sighed in relief as he saw the imposing wolf walk away. Though they were close to the same height, Tex's build was far more powerful looking then his. Falco looked to the floor at the ocelot and smirked.

"Man, you have no idea how much you owe me for saving your sorry ass just now."

"Vorlek mees formvik, Lyaiatina!"

The avian looked at Fox who stood beside him in confusion as the ocelot continued to curse at them in his native language. Fox pointed his blaster at the feline's head and gestured for him to stand up, while Falco escorted them to the holding cells. Krystal and Slippy simply stood on the bridge and looked at one another. The toad shrugged his shoulders while the azure fox rolled her eyes.

"I'll never understand them."

She muttered under her breath at the previous situation that involved Tex and Falco on the verge of trading blows.

"Well don't bother trying to figure out Falco. I've known the guy for years and I still don't get him."

Krystal laughed at this as they walked off the bridge and made their way back to their room to catch a few more hours of sleep. The blue vixen kicked off her slippers to lie back down on the bed, pulling the blankets back and waiting for Fox to return. _He's going to be up all night now,_ she thought to herself, _get him just a little excited and he's like a child on Christmas eve night._ Her mind went back to the subject of Tex, his harsh emotions that she felt emanating from his thoughts. She felt no regret or remorse when he threatened to torture that pilot.

She knew he would do it with no hesitation, which is what was sickening her. She had never witnessed a torture, nor ever attempted one, but from what she heard it described as from the war veterans on her home planet, it was not the greatest experience in their lives. From what she heard that was done to the war veterans, those that did it to them must have been quite heartless, if not soulless beings that enjoyed the occupation. She knew Tex wasn't heartless, that being apparent by his continuously shifting thoughts about Victoria and his seriousness to his personal code of honor. She continued to wonder about the strange creature called Tex and what his true motives and standings were.

Most of his thoughts were blocked off to her telepathy as he normally kept a clear mind and a level head. Most was not shown, but the anger and emptiness was clearly there, causing her to wonder even more of what he might have gone through during his life. She decided to let it be for now and try to catch a few lasting hours of sleep before she had to get up again to start the daily grind. Before she fell asleep, she smiled as she heard the sound of the room door slide open and felt the warm body of her mate lie down with her in bed and wrap his arms around her blue furred form.

"What kept you?"

* * *

_Author's note: I finished this chapter earlier then expected, hope that doesn't harm the quality of it, I'm sure all you authors know what happens when you rush through things. But I've gone through this chapter and edited it about five times until I felt satisfied and I just wanted to upload it now since it was pretty much just sitting in a file on my computer. R&R, your support is very appreciated._

_Tex_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress, 4:15 a.m. local time

"Up and at em', come on now rise and shine, everyone gets up bright and early now!"

The screech of a rusted nail scratching against cold metal walls echoed through the resting area of the fortress and tearing the slumbering security forces from their sleep. The warden, a scruffy faced Labrador ran a nail against the wall as he walked and roused everyone up from their slumber. As everyone was jumping out of their cots and placing on their armored suits equipping themselves, the warden continued to smirk as he threw back the blinds on the reinforced and barred windows that were covered in a thick white sheet of snow.

"There, get some sunshine in here. Doesn't that just put a spring in your step this lovely morning?"

He threw back his golden furred head and laughed a hearty laugh as the guards continued to grumble and silently complain at the canine's early morning behavior. As the lab continued to holler at his own jokes, a subtle clicking noise echoed down the hallway behind him. The clicking began to grow louder as the object causing the racket was drawing closer. The collective ears of almost everyone in the room perked up to the noise and immediately stood in attention, causing the warden to pull out a black metal club with a leather wrapped grip and shout at the guard's disobedience.

"What the hell do you think this is, boy scouts? Get your asses moving now or I'll let Shellie here give ya a big sloppy kiss!"

The warden placed his lips against the cold metal of his stick he dubbed "Shellie" in memory of his first girl friend and smacked it against the wall to rouse everyone. Despite the warden's threats and protests the guards remained standing in attention, standing as stiff as a wooden two-by-four. The clicking was growing stronger in volume but the warden couldn't hear it over his shouts and curses, until a cold chill ran up his spine as he sensed that someone was standing behind him. He stopped his shouts and lowered the paw that clutched his club and slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder. The warden froze as he stared into the ragged face of a coyote with an artificial eye that bore a glowing red iris.

Thomas Kaiser focused his robotic eye on the canine that stood in front of him, causing the eye to emit a subtle electronic hiss as it zoomed in. He switched the vision setting to thermal and scanned the lab's body to see that the dog's heart was pumping faster then a V-8 engine cylinder. Kaiser slowly circled around the golden colored canine, making a clicking noise as the metal of his artificial right leg slapped against the floor and his black cloak trailed behind him in a ghastly manner. He stole a deep breath, and then let the air hiss out of his nostrils and lightly blast against the warden's face, causing him to flinch.

"...fear, you reek of it."

He then whipped his head back to the obedient security force that stood in attention for their true commanding officer. Kaiser quickly clutched the lower jaw of the Labrador with his robotic left arm and forced the dog to turn his head to the standing guards.

"See them, do you see them? They follow the one who is truly in command while you stand here emitting a stench like a rotting onion and shiver like a leaf in the wind, Understand?"

Kaiser moved the dog's head up and down in a nodding motion and let his crushing grip off the warden's jaw. The Labrador coughed, grabbing for his throat and lower jaw as he scrambled back and joined the group of standing guards. The patchwork coyote paced back and forth in front of the assembled guards and continued to speak through his coarse voice.

"You are all here for a reason, obeying my command. Do as I say and you might find yourself rising up in the world. But if you cross me..."

He lightly flicked his left wrist, causing a long, sleek blade to spring out of his cybernetic palm. The blade ringed as it sprang out of the coyote's wrist, causing all the ears in the room to twitch to the menacing sound. Kaiser flicked his wrist again and the blade disappeared from view, then he returned to his pacing.

"Now that you all know where you stand, I have a question for you warden."

He pointed a sleek, metal finger at the perspiration drenched golden lab, causing every other soldier around him to quickly step away to leave him standing out in the open.

"Why is it that you decided to take the liberty to order my troops around like they were disobedient children?"

The warden swallowed hard as he began to respond.

"Well sir, I just thought that I-

"Your thoughts should be kept to yourself you scraggly, slag brained imbecile!"

"But sir I was only upholding my standings in the fortress as its warden, it wasn't-

"Now you dare challenge me? Do you believe my claims are wrong and that I am not fit to lead you? Do you think it is you that should lead me?"

"No sir, I'm not claiming that I'm only-

"I've grown tired of your disobedience. You are a coward soldier; you show your allegiance to me from fear, not loyalty. But this is the last of it."

Kaiser quickly sprinted towards the warden and clutched the lab by his face with his metallic left paw. He lifted the canine from the floor with his robotic arm and violently slammed the dog's face into the ground. A sickening crack echoed through the silent room as the Labrador's head connected with the hard floor and Kaiser withdrew his paw from the dog's cranium. The coyote took the liberty of sliding the black metal club out of the warden's waist belt and shouted for one of his troops.

"Rasputin!"

A stout badger quickly stepped forward from the crowd of armor clad animals and saluted the coyote in the Imperial's fashion by raising his right fist and placing it over his heart.

"Yes sir!"

Kaiser handed the black, metal rod to the badger and returned the salute.

"Congratulations, you've just been promoted to warden of this fortress. Your first order, take this filth and string him up on the gate outside as a reminder that I do not tolerate disobedience."

Kaiser pointed a metal finger to the corpse that was lying in a dark pool of crimson that poured from its head, addressing it as "filth". Rasputin bowed his head and plucked the limp body from the floor, carrying it outside to mount it on the gate for all to see Kaiser's handy work.

* * *

Corneria City, C.D.F. main docking area 3:05 p.m. local time

General Pepper watched the large craft of the Great Fox make its decent, landing in the unoccupied hanger space. He straitened his red officers' hat and looked on at the scrambling dock workers as they went about their assigned tasks of preparing the hanger for a ship of that size. When the Great Fox had finished its landing, a large ramp was set in place for the team to walk down to ground level where Pepper waited for them with his paws held behind his back. Fox McCloud approached the General and saluted him, exchanging a friendly hand shake with his long time friend.

"Good to see that new ship we gave you is holding up!"

Pepper had to shout over the loud noises of the hanger bay as military vehicles and staff members clamored around the entire instillation. Fox brought a paw to the side of his muzzle to better project his voice.

"She's been very reliable these past few months! It's good to see you again, sir!"

Pepper signaled for a group of soldiers and they quickly piled into the Great Fox.

"The Imperial pilot you captured should give us some useful information to this conflict; we'll soon have this sorted out thanks to all your efforts!"

Pepper leaded the group of animals out of the hanger and towards his office in the higher levels of the C.D.F. building. The elevator doors slid open and the assorted animals all piled inside, excluding Tex. The scar ravaged wolf simply stated "I'll take the stairs", and walked away on his own, Pepper looked towards Fox and quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

"Does he realize my office is on the top floor?"

The orange vulpine shrugged his shoulders and replied.

"We just let him do his own thing, he doesn't cause any trouble."

After the very confined elevator ride and the annoying little jingle of the music that blared out of the speakers etched into their minds, the six animals stepped out of the lift and walked into the General's office. Pepper fished around in his desk drawer and pulled out a file thick with papers.

"These files here are all the information we have regarding the Imperial's operations on their other planets, and thanks to you Miss McCoy, we can add your information to this stack here."

The file was handed to Fox who gripped the pale yellow folder and pulled out the first packet of stapled papers. He skimmed through the first few pages as they only contained licensing information and weapon technology. They had been fighting Imperial troops for awhile now, no one knew better then them about their weapon capabilities. The papers listed information about the next planet in line in their star system's orbital track. The Imperial's galaxy rotated around two suns, with Crones being the single planet that orbited around the smaller star while Aldun, Hossin, Capital Planet, Alastar, and their newly annexed territory, planet Gangelo orbited around the larger sun in the center of the system.

The next planet that was targeted for them was the farthest planet from the main sun, the frozen wastelands of Aldun. At the sight of the word frozen typed in fine black print, Fox cringed as he knew what was forth coming.

"Frozen wasteland?! Screw that!"

Falco ruffled his feathers in annoyance and crossed his arms. With him detesting the cold, and with Slippy being a cold blooded amphibian, only Krystal, Tex, and he would be able to traverse the planet's surface.

"You won't get me setting a foot on that planet, feathers weren't built for snow."

"Well, I can't go; I wouldn't last five seconds."

Slippy brought up his own position in the matter. Falco swatted Fox on the back and chuckled to his friend.

"Guess you and Krystal get to spend some quality time with ol' leather face, you lucky devil."

Falco playfully pinched Fox's orange cheek in mock envy, only for his fingers to be violently slapped away by the vulpine's paw. He wasn't looking forward to the aspect of going in with only Krystal and Tex who he still had second thoughts about. The group of animals stopped conversing as a buzzing noise emitted from the small speaker box on General Pepper's desk. The hound clicked a button and spoke into the small cube.

"Yes?"

There was a small pause on the other side, and then a gruff voice spoke from the other line.

"General Sir, there's a wolf that's requesting to enter your office. We found concealed weapons on his person and he has no valid identification. Should we arrest him?"

"That won't be necessary commander, send him in."

"Yes sir."

A short period later, the tall form of Tex stepped into the office, clad in his black leather trench coat and his paws shoved into his pockets. As he stepped in, the lupine turned to the departing commander and casually spoke:

"I want my guns back before I leave."

The golden furred cheetah scoffed at the wolf's calm demeanor and slammed the door in Tex's face. The steel furred lupine turned around and strode up to where the rest of the group was standing and looked over Fox's shoulder to read the papers clutched in his orange paw.

"Frozen wasteland? Sounds like fun."

Though Tex spent eight years in the dry hot climate of Katina; he still inherited the love of the cold and mountainous landscapes from his four legged ancestors. The cold that he felt on the Great Fox had nothing to do with temperature, but the fact that he was in an unfamiliar place, and that he was enclosed in thick metal walls sent shivers down his spine. He felt more at home in the snow and wind, which was probably his mother's doing since she was an arctic wolf. His love for wide open spaces came from his father who was of the timber wolf line, another factor that helped him choose his living conditions as Katina was full of wide open plains of dirt. Tex stopped reading the papers from over Fox's shoulder and claimed his spot in the room standing next to Vicky.

"Nice of you to join us Tex, we were just discussing about the team's next assignment."

"Fascinating..."

He stared at the aging hound dog for a moment, causing the general to have a puzzled look painted on his face as the wolf studied the hound's features.

"What are you staring at?"

"Just been awhile since we last met face-to-face, you look much older in person."

Falco had to stifle his laughter as he heard Tex say such a thing right to the General's face. Pepper took the disrespect simply by straitening his crimson hat and cleared his throat.

"After all these years you still look the same, that scraggly tuft of spikes on your head you call hair and of course the long hairs that hang off the end of your chin. Sorry to say my friend but goatees went out of style quite some time ago, but I see you've added a few character marks to your face since last we met."

Falco's muffled chuckling grew louder at the General's comeback. Tex's vacant eyes seemed to fill with ferocity as Pepper pointed out the scars that ravaged the wolf's face. But with Tex's inability to be offended, he simply brushed off the statement with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

"And I still look better then you but that's just good genes. You know how you used to drool over my mother in your earlier years, and let's face facts dad had a look that could stop a girl dead in her tracks. My hair, yeah sure I don't like to comb it or anything but your in no position to dis my goatee, their timeless."

Tex faked a smile as he finished his statement, and then resumed his vacant expressionless stare, stroking the long hairs that hung off the end of his chin as Victoria stepped forward

"Sir, I've uploaded the information I gathered to Corneria's military database and it should be decoded soon. If you don't need me for anything else, I will report back to my superiors."

Pepper took his eyes off of the empty face of Tex and addressed Victoria.

"Are you physically well to report back to your superiors for another assignment?"

"I believe so sir, all I need is a replacement stealth suit and equipment."

_Your letting her slip away, you should ask her to stay longer, _Tex's inner voice echoed through his head. He secretly wanted her to stay but it wasn't his place to decide such things. Such claims were for her and Fox's decisions, not his own. Then fortune seemed to smile on him for once as General Pepper responded to Victoria's impulse to return to her headquarters.

"So far Miss McCoy, the agency has no new assignments as of yet for their operatives. You should take this time to relax."

Vicky's eyebrows rose at the thought of this. She had never taken time off during the middle of such a large conflict, she had always been a hard worker and made sure to see everything was through before she took a vacation, even just a short one.

"But sir, I can't just sit by and wait until I'm needed, there must be something for me to do."

"I'm afraid not Miss McCoy. relax and recuperate from your ordeals until further notice, can't have you passing out from over exertion."

"But sir, where will I go? I don't have anywhere to stay."

"We'll I've taken the liberty of reserving a few rooms at one of our resorts for the team while they take some time away from their work before heading off to Aldun. I suggest you stay with them for a few days, if it's alright with you Fox."

The orange fox lightly smiled and replied to General Pepper's kind offer.

"Thank you sir, and yes it would be no trouble at all. We'd be glad to have Vicky stay with us for a few days."

"Tex certainly isn't complaining."

Falco cracked a smirk and chuckled as he noticed the male lupine stopped stroking his goatee. Vicky gave a warning glance at the blue avian and his subtle laughter quickly disappeared. She walked over to the tall wolf and placed a paw on his shoulder and stood beside him while she spoke. Tex appeared calm by the casual friendly contact.

"Very well, I'll accompany the Star Fox team to the hotel. But the second another assignment hits the board I want to be notified immediately."

"Your request has been taken into consideration, now go and enjoy yourselves. I have arranged for some transportation to take you to the hotel, have a nice stay, you've all earned it."

Fox saluted the hound dog and replied with a friendly chuckle.

"Thank you sir, we'll get started on our next mission soon."

The team, including the two lupines, soon left the office and strode over to the elevator to meet with their transportation. Before they left, Tex had taken the liberty to take back his assortment of weapons. His two modified pistols were replaced under the folds of his coat, as well as his father's combat knife and his magnum blaster. He still had more weapons on him then those but the security forgot to check his sleeves. They all piled into the elevator again and waited as the slowly descending room made its way to the street level floor, grabbing fresh pairs of clothing from the Great Fox before they left the building.

Tex was the first to burst free from the confined space of the elevator when the doors slid open. The group stood out on the sidewalk in front of the C.D.F. complex and waited for their transportation. Falco tapped his foot impatiently and continued to look from his left to his right, and then back to his left.

"We should have just got a taxi..."

He sighed. Slippy looked at his watch and noticed that ten minutes had already gone by. Like the rest of the crew, he wanted to get to the hotel quick before mobs of paparazzi swarmed them with cameras and questions. Another five minutes had gone by and people were starting to recognize the group of animals that were standing on the sidewalk. A sleek, black limousine caught the attention of the animals as it began to pull up alongside the group.

The driver exited the vehicle and apologized for his tardiness and opened the door to the passenger section for everyone to enter. When everyone was situated, the driver sat back into his seat and the limo began to move towards the hotel.

"May not be fast, but I guess it beats having to ride in a cab with some foreigner who can barley speak Lylat."

Falco began a conversation with the rest of the team while Tex stared out the window. It had been a long time since he last visited Corneria, he simply wanted to drink in all the sights and look at all the places he used to go to back then...those were better times. He quickly realized that he had a very urgent matter to attend to, so the moment he climbed out of the limo he told the rest of the animals that he would be heading into town.

"Leaving already?"

Fox quirked his white brows at Tex's eagerness to go into town, but not wanting to pry in others business, he let him go unhindered. Vicky took the liberty of taking Tex's duffle bag full of cloths to his assigned room. Only four rooms were reserved for the team, one for Fox and Krystal to share, one for Falco, another for Slippy, and the last was reserved for Tex. As Fox filled out the temporary ownership of the rooms, he decided to play to his four legged ancestor's nature of being sly and assigned Vicky to share the room with Tex. Krystal picked up on his thoughts to what he was doing and playfully slugged him in the arm.

Each animal took an access card and swiped it on the computerized lock of each door. They all went into their rooms and got situated. As Fox walked into the hotel room, Krystal took the liberty of placing a do not disturb tag on the door and slowly closed it behind her. Fox dropped the small suitcases at the end of the king sized bed and slowly turned around to the blue vixen that stood in the room with him. She slowly walked up to him, sashaying her hips in a very attractive manner and cupped both sides of his orange furred face.

He placed his paws on her hips and tenderly moved them up and down her sides.

"Finally some time alone."

He whispered. The feeling of his hot breath against her ear caused her to shudder in arousal and she worked her paws down from her face and placed them on his chest, slowly pulling off his flight jacket and began unzipping the green jumpsuit he wore underneath. He moved his paws up her back and slowly pulled on the zipper of her blue and purple flight suit, pushing the clothing off her shoulders to let it fall to the floor. They both collapsed on the bed as she assaulted him with a bombardment of kisses, occasionally pulling their lips apart to speak to one another.

"I'm glad we took some time off, all this work was starting to take its toll on me."

She spoke between her panting as he began to tenderly rub her back, causing her to coo in passion.

"I get to spend some carefree time with my girl, I couldn't be happier."

She leaned over him to seductively nibble at the tip of his ear, his grip tightened on her back and he pulled her closer to him. Krystal had let her paws free to explore the body of her mates as she continued to nibble at his ear. He clutched her face, pulling her away from his ear and planting a fiery kiss on her mouth, painting her lips with his tongue. She parted her lips and tilted her head to further increase the intensity of the lip lock as their tongues came into contact with one another. They continued in this manner for a long period of time, feeling the passion they offered to one another.

* * *

Corneria City, hotel room #535, 3:45 p.m. local time

The two bags dropped onto the white carpet of the hotel room as Vicky collapsed on the bed, the mattress creaking in protest as she fell onto it. She rolled onto her back but quickly sprang up as she felt discomfort from adding pressure to the wounds that made its residence on her backside. She lightly rubbed her back and felt the freshly bandaged cuts along her spine and shoulder blades. Even thought Tex had cleaned and taken care of them properly, they would most likely end up scarring. She cursed Thomas Kaiser's name and his soul which she suspected was rotting in the fiery bowls of hell right about now.

She looked out the window of the hotel room and watched as the populace of the city were walking down sidewalks and speeding by in their cars, heading to their destinations.

"I should thank him when he comes back..."

She thought out loud. He was so kind to her, even when they had an argument he never cursed or threatened her, and he would always apologize immediately after each one. He was odd, most lupine males were active and short tempered, yet Tex was very docile and calm. _His parents must have raised him very well, _she thought. It was hard for her to understand what his life must have been like, she wouldn't know, she was a very privileged child when she was younger.

Her parents had quite a lot of money so she and her older sister had gotten what they wanted and never had to fight for it. She attended the best schools, wore the best clothing, and had the best cars. But when she learned about the lower classes and their struggles during the Lylat War, she took it upon herself to leave her privileged life style and join the military, quickly rising in the ranks from her high level of intelligence. She was now a Cornerian government agent, able to support herself without the help of her parent's money, she was quite proud of herself and her accomplishments. But she was still just a spoiled rich girl as everyone thought of her, and Tex had to fight and struggle on his own for his entire life.

"He didn't even have a mother..."

She couldn't imagine what that could have been like. She would be lost without her mother's guidance in her life. Vicky sat up from the bed and opened the sliding glass door to step out onto the small deck, looking down at the street far below and watching the populace of the city. She looked at the sidewalks and crosswalks to see if she could catch a glimpse of the wolf walking down the streets. She desperately wanted to thank him and offer her friendship and sympathy to his endeavors.

The wheels began to turn in her head as she had an idea of where Tex would be going. She remembered him telling her about his mother's death. He mentioned that she and his father were in a prosperous military career; this helped to narrow down her ideas of where to look. She walked back into the room, grabbed Tex's blue flight jacket and ran out the door to go search for the grey animal. Her sprint was interrupted as she heard the sound of a hotel door open.

"Where you headed off to in such a hurry?"

Victoria turned around and saw the feathered form of Falco standing behind her. She drew her brows together in a glare and turned her back to the bird. Falco reached out and clutched her shoulder to stop her and she spun around, balling up a fist.

"Hang on a second there, don't go breaking my face till I'm done talking!"

He threw his feathered hands up in front of him in retaliation and Vicky slowly lowered her fist.

"Then talk, I don't have time for your jokes."

"Geeze lady, why the sudden temper?"

"I've still not forgiven you for your rudeness those few days ago."

"Well I'm not the apologetic type, but I've learned my lesson, honestly."

"Is that so?"

Falco pointed his index finger out and crisscrossed his chest. Vicky simply watched with a stoic expression and rolled her eyes as she knew what he was doing.

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Do you really expect me to actually hold you by your words?"

The bird merely shrugged with a lopsided grin.

"Got nothing else."

"...Fine, but keep your own opinions about me and Mr. Hempioro to yourself."

"Well what was I supposed to think? You were right on top of the guy, and last I checked the medical center isn't for you and him only."

"Well you should learn the golden rule of closed doors."

"Eh?"

"Always knock first."

"Ah, funny very funny."

"Now if you'll excuse me..."

"Going to go look for him, eh?"

"Not that it's any of your business but yes, why do you ask?"

"No reason', just think you two should hook up, maybe get a smile out of ol' leather face."

Vicky laced her fingers together and nosily cracked her knuckles, only for Falco to chuckle and walk down the hall of the hotel. As she watched him leave, she silently swore to herself she would permanently shut his mouth next time he made such comments. However, now was not the time for violence and she pulled on the blue flight jacket, Tex's scent strongly wafting to her nose. She turned to walk down the stairs to street level and walked out the door, inhaling the male wolf's scent so she could better track his movements.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Corneria City, downtown district, 3:50 p.m. local time

Most of the citizens quickly stepped out of the way or simply averted their gaze as the tall, leather clad wolf strode past them on the sidewalk. Tex's large military boots slapped against the hard pavement as he walked, his paws shoved deep into his coat pockets. The leather flaps of his trench coat trailed behind, making him appear as a ghostly apparition when the wind was blowing. He moved his sliver gaze towards the sky and stared at the burning ball of fire that floated above him. Judging by the position of Solar, it was about the middle of the day, the temperature was at its hottest but with the light breeze it was rather enjoyable.

He looked around him, noticing adults with sweaters and long sleeves while their children trailed along side them with caps and their colorful jackets. The downtown area was nearly back to the way it was, from what Tex knew about the Aparoid invasion, the rich district was hit the hardest. The wolf couldn't take one step without memories of when he used to visit this city to flood his mind. He loved visiting the city with his father when he was young, always amazed at how large the buildings were and all the different things to see. But he wasn't on this outing for reliving better times, so he shook off the memories and continued down the sidewalk, noticing the populace reacting to his presence whenever he walked by, but he paid them no heed.

He knew what he looked like to them; it was only natural for them to feel uneasy around him. Tex stopped in front of a small flower shop and stepped inside. The ringing of bells was heard as he pushed the door open and stepped into the flower filled room. The wolf walked up the counter and tapped his paw on the small ringer, causing it to chime from his touch. An elderly raccoon stepped out from the back of the shop and approached the counter, a joyous smile painted on her aged face.

"Can I help you, sir?"

Much like her face, her voice was filled with happiness, yet this effected the wolf's gloomy demeanor very little.

"I would like to buy some flowers please."

"Certainly, is there a specific kind you would like?"

"Just a bouquet, roses if you have any would be just fine."

The raccoon nodded her head and went to the back of the shop again. Tex's ears twitched as he heard the bells on the door ringing and turned around to see two leopards walk into the shop. The female of the couple had a swollen belly from pregnancy. The two walked around the shop, the male stepping closely behind his mate to help her walk in her condition; occasionally glancing at the wolf for fear that he might be a shop lifter. Tex turned his gaze away from the couple as the elderly raccoon returned with a small bouquet of roses.

The grey and black furred animal wrapped the roses in a white sheet and tied a bright red ribbon around the bouquet and handed it to Tex. The wolf reached into his wallet and paid the raccoon what he owed, slipping in a little extra along with his fee. The raccoon was very kind so he thought she deserved it, good customer service was a rare thing to find these days.

"A nice choice, I'm sure whoever your giving these to will absolutely love them, a young lady friend perhaps?"

Tex simply responded in his deep hollow voice.

"Not exactly..."

"Well have a good day, sir."

"Thank you."

The lupine turned to leave and pushed the door open to emerge back on the sidewalk of the downtown area. If his memory served well, he needed to be heading north to get to his destination. He pushed a button that was attached to a traffic light pole and waited for the screen on the other side to light up green, signaling him it was his turn to cross the street. He strode across the pavement and continued down the sidewalk in that direction, staring strait ahead as he was intent on getting to his destination. After a few minutes of walking, he stood in front of a white painted gate that held a bright emerald field of grass on the other side.

He pushed open the gate and slowly stepped onto the paved walkway towards a tall tree that stood alone on the field. Under the tree was a large stone tablet that rested under the leaf filled branches. Tex walked onto the grass and stood close to the structure and watched as the fallen leaves swirled around it in the wind. His trench coat flapped quietly behind him as the breeze pulled at it, the red ribbon that was tied around the roses did the same. The wolf took a few slow steps and placed the bouquet of roses against the carved stone, letting the crimson peddles lie against its cold surface.

"Sorry I haven't visited you in a long time..."

His voice was quiet, a whisper that was carried away by the wind that tugged against his clothing.

"Hope I'm making you proud."

Tex continued to stand in silence acting much like a stone carving as well. One would even guess he ceased breathing, letting his body simply shut down into a forced hibernation where only his conscious mind was active. His ear twitched as the light breeze whistled past him, rustling his unruly spiked hair and causing his eyes to grow dry. His nose itched as a familiar scent carried along with the wind blew against his face and his irises instinctively shifted to his right.

"You followed me..."

The unidentified pursuer had stopped their slow pace, that being apparent by hearing the footfalls cease. Very little escaped Tex's senses, he could hear the subtle breath escape from the stranger's nostrils, the sound of their soft footfalls against the grass, and their scent. It was the scent that made it apparent to Tex who was behind him. He waited for a response to his statement but instead felt the slight pressure of a paw being tenderly placed on his back. The paw slid up from his back and rested on his shoulder underneath the flaps of his coat collar.

The small form of Vicky stood beside him, her head only measuring up to the male wolf's shoulders. Though she was taller then most women, compared to Tex she was very small in height, seven inches to be exact. He looked down at her, noticing immediately that she was clad in his flight jacket with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, exposing the white fur that covered her paws and began melding into grey around the middle of her forearms. She looked quite humorous in his clothing, everything was very large on her, and occasionally she would grasp at her waistline to pull the sagging blue jeans back up before they completely fell off her. Tex had to force himself not to break into a chuckle as he noticed her feet were clad in his large sneakers, and with their form fitting design it looked as if she wore clown shoes.

His amusement was lost in his expression however, only the cold stare and the deep set frown was clear on his features. He looked back at the gravestone and inhaled a fresh breath through his nostrils. His ears swiveled in the direction from where he heard Vicky's voice.

"I had a feeling you'd come here."

Tex glanced back down at the she wolf, her head resting against his shoulder and her arm coiled around his. He cleared his throat but remained silent, his ears perking up whenever she spoke.

"I knew you lost your mother...but I didn't know of your father's fate. When you mentioned that they both had a successful military career this was the first place that I thought you would go to."

Tex grunted in response. His eyes were welded to the etchings in the stone, reading each word over and over again; it had been so long since his last visit, nearly eight years to be exact.

_Mark C. Hempioro, 2455-2489, Loving husband, father, and hero, may he be remembered as a savior of Lylat. _He memorized those words to their exact print and order; the message etched permanently into his mind much like the stone he read off of.

"Was your mother put to rest here too?"

Tex turned to look back down at Vicky again, the tips of his ears drooping. He took a slow breath and shook his head.

"No, she was buried on her home planet of Fichina. I was very young so my memory of it isn't the strongest but she was buried in the main city cemetery I think."

"I'm sure your parents are reunited in the Goddess' realm. Their spirits will be together."

Tex scoffed at this. He wasn't on good terms with the almighty, his last conversation left him yelling up at the sky, cursing the Goddess' name. His manifestation of the Goddess was someone just watching him up in the heavens laughing at the misfortune that they caused him. He had heard all his life that the Goddess loves all but he just thought of her as someone who causes him sorrow just so she could be amused by his reaction. He lost his faith and had forsaken his soul by choice after the loss of his teammates and friends when he fought for Corneria.

The wind kicked up again, rustling the crimson peddles of the roses and causing the two lupine's clothing to flap in the breeze. Tex looked back up at the sky to try and estimate what the time was. Solar had only barely moved from the last time he checked its position so it was difficult to discern the time. He looked back to the stone, then to Vicky and slowly eased himself out of her embrace.

"Goodbye, Vicky..."

The female wolf watched as he departed from the cemetery and called for him before he walked out the whitewashed gate.

"Don't you mean see you later?"

"...Sure."

* * *

Corneria City, "The slums", 5:10 p.m. local time

The city, it was nice to be back. Falco ran his fingers through the feathers on his head, combing through the makeshift Mohawk the feathers grew into. He stood on the sidewalk of the accurately dubbed "slums" of Corneria. It wasn't the safest, or the prettiest area of the city but it was home. Not much had changed, the apartment buildings were still in bad condition, the streets were littered with garbage and liquor bottles, and occasionally the avian could hear police sirens screaming far away in the distance.

"Home sweet home..."

Falco sighed as he tapped his foot against the cracked cement of the sidewalk. He felt a slight feeling of sadness. He was grateful he was able to finally get away from the gang lifestyle, the nights hiding from police and the bloody drunken brawls in the streets but he still felt that he had abandoned the rest of the gang when he decided to join the academy. They weren't true friends, most would be gone or use you for their own gain, but he did occasionally miss the freedom and rebellious ways of life. His trip down memory lane was put to an abrupt end as he heard the sound of shoes slapping against the pavement.

The shoes sounded expensive so he knew it wasn't anyone from this part of town and he quickly turned around to the noise. Falco gave a smirk and buried his hands into his pockets, standing casually as he watched the owner of the expensive looking footwear strode up to him.

"What took ya so long?"

The bright pink paw of Katt Monroe balled up into a fist and slugged the blue avian in the shoulder. Falco withdrew from the blow and grasped the feline's wrist as she drew her fist back, planting a kiss on her palm. Katt rolled her eyes and took his hand in her paw as they both walked down the sidewalk.

"So why'd you want to meet here again?"

Falco rubbed the back of his head in contemplation, only for Katt to shrug her shoulders.

"Been awhile since we've been here, don't you like visiting your old stomping grounds?"

"Yeah sure why not, so how's the solo work going for ya?"

"Could be better, you and your money grubbing friends keep taking all the good gigs."

"Not my fault, babe, I just follow Fox, if you wanna be mad at anybody, be mad at him."

"Oh you know I could never get mad at him, McCloud's too sweet to get me on his case. Speaking of which, how is the guy, from what you told me he's been doing pretty good for himself, even got a girl."

Falco moved his free hand to quickly jerk his neck to the side, causing the vertebrae to pop and loosen up.

"He's been good, and yeah Foxie's been hittin' it off with Krystal..."

"The blue gal, right?"

"Yup, they seem serious, think the guys gonna marry her...poor girl."

Katt slugged Falco in the shoulder again as he chuckled at his own joke. She led him down the street with her paw tugging at his arm so forcefully he thought it would get pulled from his shoulder joint.

"Damn, Katt, where are we going?"

"You'll see."

He sighed as he waited for an explanation that didn't come and just went with it. He began having an overpowering feeling of déjà vu as the feline continued to lead him down the ally way.

"Here we are."

Expecting something worth seeing, Falco furrowed his brows as he and Katt stood in front of a poorly kept brick wall. The pink feline simply smirked as she watched Falco stand in puzzlement.

"...A wall."

"It's not just a wall..."

"Looks like a wall to me."

"You don't remember do you? Aw its ok, it took me awhile to find it myself."

He watched Katt pull out a loose brick and reach her paw inside. There was a subtle click, and then it sounded as if something was moving from the inside of the wall. With the noise gradually growing weaker, a section of what appeared to be a brick wall slid away, revealing a rusted metal surface. Falco stared with a blank expression as the memory of this place flooded back to his mind.

"You've got to be shitting me."

He placed a feathered finger to the smooth, rusted surface of the door and slid it open. The avian stepped inside with Katt right behind him into a darkened room filled with old furniture, small round wooden tables with discarded bottles and playing cards strewn about the floors. The small windows were covered with dark sheets to block out sunlight and a creak emitted from the floor boards every time either one of them took a step. Falco walked over to one of the dust covered tables and plucked a playing card from its surface, turning it over in his fingers. An ace of spades was printed on the white face of the card.

"Hehe, my winning hand..."

"I remember that game, you and Joe kept playing till morning."

He had always wondered what happened to the old hideout. He guessed it would have been the same when they left it, and it was exactly that, left completely the same. It was the perfect spot to hide; the bird recalled memories of seeking refuge from Lieutenant Doyle whenever he'd "express" his artistic talents with a spray can and needed to keep the heat off him for awhile. He slumped down on the couch, kicking up a puff of dust and cobweb residue and propping his feet on the table, just as he did years before. Katt sat next to him and did the same, simply looking around remembering their younger years.

"Thanks, Katt...this was a nice little surprise."

He reached over and embraced the feline in a playful headlock. She elbowed him in the side and he quickly let go, but she leaned against him none the less. Falco placed the playing card into his jacket pocket and wrapped his arm around the feline's shoulders as they leaned back on the ancient sofa together. It wasn't classy, it wasn't proper, it wasn't clean or comfortable, but it was their home and nothing felt better then coming back to it and remembering the good times that took place within these walls. Katt's pointed ears flickered to the sound of angry shouts and curses coming from outside the door.

She stood up along with Falco and they both stepped out of the hideout, replacing its camouflaged wall covering and sprinting down the ally way. They followed the noise to one of the only taverns that was still up and running and burst inside, immediately being in the sights of six blaster wielding thugs.

"You two, on the floor now, don't trying anything stupid blue boy!"

A scruffy bulldog raced towards them and placed his barrel against Falco's feathered head. He calmly complied and crashed down to his knees, Katt doing the same. He always remembered this place being a popular spot for robberies; he even snuck a few beers without paying here a few times himself. The avian watched as three more crooks were shoving down the customers and the bar crew onto the floor. He then noticed that some rather bold, or rather stupid fellow was still sitting on his bar stool, calmly gulping down the contents of his brown tinted bottle.

The two remaining thugs trained their pistols on the large customer who turned his head to glance at them then returned to his drink.

"On the floor now asshole or I'll blast you in half!"

The bar patron flattened his pointed ears in annoyance but continued to ignore the couple of rude canines that had their guns staring him down. He lifted his bottle to his lips, only for the bottom to be shattered into pieces as one of the dogs shot it out of his paw, spilling the amber liquid onto the counter. The wall of muscle slowly stood up from his bar stool and towered over the small scraggly furred collie that shot out his beer bottle.

"On the floor big shot, and empty your pockets!"

Falco could see out of the corner of his eye that whoever the bozo was that was causing problems had grey fur and was clad in a black coat. _Black coat...no way, _the blue bird's mind soon recognized who the stubborn fool was before he could even register it himself. The six foot seven wall of muscle and scar tissue that was Tex stared down at the angry faced collie that blew out his drink from his own paw and returned the gesture with his own angered expression.

"Don't try and be a hero, dumb ass. Now do as I tell ya and get on the floor and give us what ya got!"

The wolf glanced around him at the customers that were pinned to the ground and he slowly lowered down to the floor. The canine nudged the lupine's forehead with the tip of his barrel and stretched his paw out in front of him.

"Your wallet lets go..."

Instead of reaching for his wallet, Tex quickly sprang up from the floor and clutched the dog's outstretched paw and spun him around, tearing the pistol away from the shaggy canine and placing it under his chin.

"Now you do as I tell you and make your buddies drop their guns and play along."

"Go screw yourself, _gaaah_!"

Tex took the vulgar retort by violently twisting the dog's wrist, causing it to break as the wolf thumbed back the hammer of the pistol that he grasped in his paw and added pressure to the collie's chin.

"I'm waiting..."

"Boys...do what he says...ah shit..."

He cursed as the searing pain in his wrist began to work its way up his arm and tear at his shoulder. The other canines placed their pistols on the floor and kicked them away.

"Falco, grab their blasters and empty the cartridges."

The avian had wondered how long the lupine noticed him sitting there as he quickly stood up and collected the pistols, dismantling them by sliding out the ammo clips and detaching the gun chambers from the weapon's body. With the useless pieces of metal clattering to the floor, Tex let the collie go and took apart the blaster as quick as lightning.

"Now, give me five credits for the beer you shot out of my paw and were square."

The group of canines all looked at each other and laughed until they began to clutch their sides. Falco furrowed his brows at Tex's ridicules demand and placed his palm over his face in slight embarrassment. The wolf laced his clawed fingers together and pulled them back, cracking all of his knuckles and rolling he shoulders. The thugs all began pulling out knives, guns, and the occasional broken beer bottle out of seemingly nowhere and brandished them in front of each other, cautiously inching away from the giant lupine. Tex leaned close to Falco and spoke to him, keeping his fierce gaze locked on the group of brawlers.

"I'll take the four on the left, you can have the other two."

The blue avian swung his head in the wolf's direction, stared back to the group, and then returned his sights on Tex again.

"You're joking right?"

"Do you hear me laughing?"

"Goddess damn you're crazy..."

"Nah just angry...and a little buzzed to be honest."

The dogs began laughing again as they heard the foolishness of the wolf's words and slowly circled the two. The collie who cradled his broken wrist slowly reached into his coat, chuckling to himself.

"Alright, you wanna mess, well I got something that makes me bigger then you tough guy!"

The shaggy furred canine quickly whipped out what had to be one of the biggest hand cannons Falco had ever seen. Tex for the most part appeared unnerved; he was instead admiring the brutal piece of hardware the dog had clutched in his uninjured paw.

"Now that's a pretty big gun, must have set you back quite a bit for something so big and beautiful."

"Shut your damn mouth and give us everything you and your buddy's got and we'll only beat you half to death."

Falco turned back to Tex standing next to him and waited for a response, he got quite a surprising one from the wolf. As quick as lightning, Tex threw back the folds of his coat and reached behind himself, unsheathing his knife and tossing it into the collie's paw. The sleek metal sunk into the dog's paw, the tip protruding clean out the other side. Tex quickly rushed forward and kneed the thick furred canine in the stomach, bringing him to the ground and knocking the air out of him. He rushed forward and grabbed two more thugs and lifted them up over his head.

Falco shook his head from being stunned by the incredible display of skill and brutality and drew back his leg to strike the side of a thug's muzzle, sending him spinning like a top with the single blow. He dealt a few quick jabs to the bulldog's stomach, then followed up with a jaw busting uppercut that sent the canine a good foot off the ground as he reeled back from the strike. Another dog, a mix between a Husky and a Shepard jumped up to hang onto Tex's back, wrapping his arms around the wolf's neck. The lupine stood solid as a mountain as he threw the canine clutched in his right paw clear across the room and smashed the one in his left paw into the floor, splintering the wooden floorboards. The Husky mix pulled out a short switch blade and buried the lethal metal spike into the wolf's right shoulder, but stabbing into the mountain of muscle felt like plunging an old rusted nail into a hickory wood tree covered with a thick shell of bark.

Tex, fueled by adrenaline barely felt the sting of the blade and tore the mutt from his back, holding the wide eyed dog by the collar and slammed his fist into the canine's face, knocking him out cold. With as much force of a freight train, the punch had slightly warped the dog's snout as he slumped to the floor from Tex loosened his grip on the mutt's neckline. The wolf's ear flicked as he heard another opponent sprint behind him and felt a solid wooden chair smash onto his back. Tex didn't flinch in the slightest as the chair shattered into splinters against his back and shoulders and instead turned to stare at the dog that had been thrown across the room when the brawl started. He smirked wickedly as the dog retreated from the monster of an animal, but was quickly stopped as Tex lobbed an empty glass bottle that shattered against the sprinting dog's head.

The lupine realized that a polished handle of a switchblade was sticking out of his shoulder and calmly pulled it out, tossing it to the floor and turning to see Falco finish off the last of the hooligans that held up the bar. The avian somersaulted away from a stout Wolfhound, catching the dog's chin with the tip of his foot as he flipped backwards and landed flat on his feet. Falco sprinted forward and buried his outstretched kneecap into the dog's gut, then kicked off the ground with his other foot to spring himself upwards, catching the canine under the chin again with the bird's knee. The avian sidestepped behind the dazed Wolfhound and coiled his arms around the canine's waist, leaning back and slamming the dog's head into the floorboards as he preformed a fierce suplex. Tex offered a paw to the bird and pulled him up off the wood planks that made up the ground.

The wolf surveyed the floor and wrenched his knife from the passed out collie on the floor. Tex wiped the blood off with the dog's shirt and replaced it into his sheath, then walked over to the customers that sat frozen on the floor.

"Get up; they won't be bothering you anymore."

The groups of animals slowly stood up and silently walked out the door of the bar, occasionally one brave soul would pat Tex on the shoulder in gratitude as they departed with friends and spouses collectively. The wolf slowly walked about the tarnished tavern and scanned the floor a second time. He smirked as he found what he was searching for. Falco had gone to Katt's aid and then stood next to the wolf that crouched down to pick up the large blaster that was carelessly tossed to the floor. The blue avian cracked a smile as he watched the wolf twirl the gun in his fingers and examine each and every detail.

"You gonna take that with you?"

Tex looked over his shoulder with a wily grin and placed the blaster in its new residence within his coat.

"A lot of time and skill went into creating this magnificent piece of machinery ; it would just be a crime to leave it on the floor. I'm sure I'll find a more noble use for it then these jackasses could think of."

He kicked the limp form of a dog that lay on the floor, his face buried in the crater that was the floorboards. He turned around to face Falco and offered a paw. The avian looked down at the outstretched palm and slowly grasped it. They both smirked as they shook each others' paw, and then Falco took the liberty of slugging the lupine in the shoulder.

"That's for what happened on the Great Fox."

Tex glanced down at his shoulder, then back to the avian. He shrugged and poked his finger in the small hole in his coat from where the knife pierced it.

"Fair enough..."

"C'mon, we should get out of here; we'll get ya patched up nice and good on the way back to the hotel."

Falco, Katt, and Tex walked out the swinging doors and onto the street. The pink feline nudged Falco in the ribs and cleared her throat and he realized what she was hinting him about.

"Ah right, leather face, this is Katt, Katt this here's leather face, Fox hired him as a temporary member for some extra firepower."

Katt quirked her eyebrows in puzzlement as Falco introduced her to the enormous lupine.

"Leather face...?"

"It's Tex actually, pleasure to meet you miss."

He offered her his paw and lightly shook her bright pink palm; his long fingers nearly enveloped her small delicate paw, yet his handshake was rather gentle, he knew how to shake a lady's hand properly, a quality Katt found surprising for him to possess.

"Ah, you looked familiar, seen you a few times at some of the old space colonies while I was doing solo work. Made quite a name for yourself with some of the deep space pirates, said you were quite the brute force and from what I saw in the bar I'd say that was an understatement."

Tex ran his fingers through the spiked tufts of fur on his head and straitened his red headband.

"Pirates always exaggerate, but thank you for the compliment, miss."

"Enough of that formal crap, a friend of Falco's is a friend of mine."

"If you insist, Katt..."

"There that's better, so Falco where'd you find this guy?"

The bird placed a hand behind his head and chuckled.

"He kinda found us, Pepper told us about him so he looked him up for some extra help around the ship, next thing we knew he was knockin' on our doorstep. You've been with us for about how long now big guy?"

"Two weeks roughly..."

"Yeah that sounds about right."

Katt glanced back up at the towering wolf's face and grinned.

"He's cool in my book, nice to meet you, Tex."

"Likewise, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, shoot."

"I just have to know, what's with the pink fur?"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of their characters, they are all owned by Nintendo. However Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Planet Aldun, glacier post, 12:14 a.m. local time

"Another two, far left!"

A sniper round laced through the air, leaving a beam of orange light to float in the air as the shot screamed out of the barrel. With a mechanical click, the bullet casing was ejected from the chamber and another round slide into firing position. The small squad of Imperials were pinned down, the hot beams of energy melted the mounds of snow they pierced through, only to fizzle out from the extreme drop in temperature as the shots touched cold snow. The female sniper quickly separated another enemies' head from their shoulders with her high powered rifle. Her species could not be determined; her face was covered in an insulation mask and her coat's hood was pulled over her ears.

Another Imperial troop, a Husky who was all too familiar with the arctic landscape fired another burst of shots from his automatic rifle and took cover behind a mound of snow as opposing blaster fire nearly grazed his pointed ears. He put a finger to his communicator that was built into his headgear and shouted more commands over the grainy transmission.

"I could really use some covering fire!"

"I'll give you some..."

A feminine voice calmly came over the speaker as another sniper shot tore a hole through another rebel's chest. The inhabitants of Aldun didn't take too kindly to their planet being taken into Imperial rule a few years ago and they certainly didn't like that their natural recourses were being used up for war machines. The female sniper took out a few more targets with relative ease; these foes were mere guerrilla troops, poorly organized and loosely commanded rebels. They had been disrupting supply transports for some time and Kaiser was getting tired of it rather quickly. The coyote had dispatched the small group of three soldiers into stopping a sabotage of another shipping vehicle since they were the closest military personnel in the area.

It was relatively easy, they were very brash and stupid opponents, no real training or military skills just radicals with guns, but they did fatally wound one of the squad members so they were still considered a threat, albeit a small one. The Husky Imperial radioed his long ranged ally to help him in extracting the wounded member and get him back to the post as the last of the insurgents were eliminated. The female sniper holstered her rifle onto her back and helped her comrade pull the bleeding and unconscious troop from the snow and back to the post. With the injured Imperial placed on a small cot inside the lower floor of the watch tower, the female soldier pulled off her mask and began mending his wounds. The sniper, a lynx with bright green eyes quickly tried to control the wound that was dramatically bleeding.

She turned towards the Husky that was radioing the fortress and shouted for assistance.

"Corvine, I need your help; he's not going to make it!"

The Husky stopped his transmission and helped his ally with their wounded friend. The crimson drenched cougar's chest continued to rise and fall from his labored breathing.

"Goddess dammit, Duncan, don't you fking die on me!"

"Corvine, it's his heart, they clipped a pulmonary artery he's going into cardiac arrest!"

"I'm not a medic, what the hell do I do?!"

"Get me my cutters, we have to crack open his chest.'

"You out of your mind, you'll kill him!"

"Now, Corvine, I can't waste time arguing with you again!"

The Husky cursed and ran up the steps of the tower's interior to look for the lynx's medical equipment. He returned with her cutters and she began delicately splitting apart the ribcage to reveal Duncan's inner workings.

"Dammit, Lexington, you're crazy..."

"Shut up and hold him steady, I'll need to restart his heart while you close up the artery."

"...Fine, give me the needle."

The lynx reached into the cougar's open chest and gently massaged his heart with her paws. It was a long shot, but time was incredibly short, his heart beat was dwindling and blood began to flood his insides from the artery. Corvine began to stitch up the ruptured areas and helped stop the blood flow, and then began to clean out the puddles of red that was forming in Duncan's chest cavity. Lexington continued to help restart the cougar's heart but it wasn't working, his pulse was almost nonexistent. Corvine placed a paw on her shoulder but she continued to massage the male feline's heart.

"Lexington...Kris, you couldn't do anything..."

"Shut up, damn you...c'mon, Duncan, you can do it, show us all up like you always do...you can do it..."

"Kris..."

The lynx slapped away his paw and continued to jumpstart Duncan's heart, only to be stopped as Corvine forcibly grabbed her and pulled her away from the corpse. Lexington thrashed and whaled in sorrow but Corvine wouldn't let her go. Finally she stopped punching and kicking and fell limp in the canine's arms as he held her close, her sobs muffled into his chest and the howling wind echoed through the walls of the outpost. The dog picked up the small speaker and began radioing the fortress again.

"Outpost glacier to main fortress, do you copy...outpost glacier to main fortress...?"

After a pause filled with static, a voice came out from the other side of the transmission.

"This is Patrick Rasputin, fortress warden, is that you Mike?"

"Yeah, Pat, it's me...we've taken out the radicals...inform Kaiser that the job was successful."

"Where's medical officer Lexington?"

"She's here, sir..."

"And specialist Duncan?"

"Dead, sir...he's dead..."

There was a pause on the other end of the transmission. A blast of cold wind slammed against the reinforced walls of the watchtower and Lexington began to dig her claws into Corvine's shoulders as she continued to sob.

"We'll send assistance to your location...I'm sorry, Michel."

"Yeah, I'll bet you are..."

He turned off the radio and placed the headset down on the box littered with knobs and buttons. Corvine pried the lynx's razor sharp claws that dug into him from his shoulders and held her paws in his. He rubbed his fingers over her knuckles as she tried to steady her breathing.

"I'm gonna miss him too, I'm so sorry Kris..."

Her eyes grew glossy, their bright reflective surfaces being drowned in a pool of moist tears.

"He was like a brother to me, Mike...he was like family."

Her words were spoken into his chest and he rocked her back and forth as they sat on the floor with his back propped up against the cold wall. _Why,_ Corvine's thoughts ran free as he cradled the soft crying body in his arms. _Why did things have to change, why did he make us do this, why did they take him away from us? _Such questions fell on deaf ears in this frozen ball of emptiness. The snow and ice that covered the planet were as cold and unforgiving as death itself, and only more death was sure to come.

* * *

Corneria City, residential district, 9:20 p.m. local time

The large form of Tex sat on the cold medical table and clutched his wounded shoulder. The hospital was just like every other one he's been to, white, cold, and it always sent a shiver down his spine, but that wasn't due to the temperature. His senses ran wild as he felt a kind of paranormal presence within these walls. People have died here, that he was sure of, the feeling of his stomach icing over and his fur standing on end was a kind of sixth sense. He always experienced these sensations whenever death was near, even when he was a child he had an acute sense of the recently deceased, whether from natural causes, or by another's own doing.

Falco stood next to Tex as he sat on the table; the area around his right shoulder was growing damp and red from the small trickle of blood pouring out. The avian noticed that the wolf was reacting differently since they first stepped into the hospital after they finally made it out of the slums. His thick grey fur stood on end and his pupils shrunk until they almost didn't appear on his eyes anymore. The blue bird patted Tex's head and spoke to him in a sarcastic manner.

"Aw, something wrong, big bad wolf scared of the hospital?"

At the sight of the wolf's ears falling flat against his head in anger, Falco pulled his feathered hand away and chuckled as the lupine turned his head towards him.

"You don't feel that?"

"Feel what?"

The avian looked around him for a moment and refocused his line of sight back on Tex. The wolf opened his mouth to respond, but paused as he quickly revised his statement.

"Never mind...forget I said anything."

"...Right..."

They both turned their heads to the sound of the whitewashed door swinging open. A Sharpe with smoky grey fur and a wrinkled face and muzzle stepped in and stood in front of Tex.

"So you are Mr. Hempioro, correct?"

The Sharpe had a sort of irritable tone in his voice, making Tex narrow his gaze at the rudeness in the canine's voice. The wolf responded with a wordless nod of the head as the grey dog addressed his last name. The doctor quirked a brow at Tex's mute response but continued to read over the information chart he held in his paw. After skimming through the papers that Tex filled out while in the waiting room, the canine pulled on a pair of glasses and pulled up a stool to sit near the wolf, his sour attitude could be clearly heard in his voice.

"Well, I'm Dr. Marlin, what's the damage?"

Already the Sharpe was getting on Tex's nerves with his rather irritable tone of voice but he forced himself to be polite and took his paw off of his bleeding shoulder. The doctor immediately noticed the blood that began soaking into the lupine's t-shirt and instructed that he take off his shirt to examine the wound. Tex did as he was told and pulled off his shirt to reveal his heavily scarred midsection. The doctor appeared unfazed by the scars that ravaged the wolf's upper body; however, Falco's expression looked quite the opposite.

Stab marks, cuts, burns, blaster holes, and a chunk of flesh missing from his left shoulder. Falco was flabbergasted on how the wolf was able to walk and move with little to no physical strain on his body. Either the scars were not as painful as they seemed, or Tex had a high tolerance to them the bird could only wonder. Dr. Marlin began to prepare a syringe, stabbing it into a small glass jar and extracting the clear liquid from it into the tube of the syringe. He tapped it to see if nothing obstructed its flow or if it was defective and drew it close to Tex's shoulder.

In reality a knife blade even a small one being fully plunged into your shoulder would seem more painful, but in actuality, he found the needle of the syringe stabbing into his skin quite unpleasant. With his arm rendered useless, Dr. Marlin began to stitch the deep stab mark in Tex's shoulder. Falco watched for a moment longer, observing the wolf's facial expression growing more aggravated with each passing second. The avian turned to leave and sat in one of the small plastic chairs that littered the waiting room. He leaned back in the chair and folded his arms behind his back to support his head while he closed his eyes.

"Alright, you're finished here. Head out and fill in the release forms before you leave."

Falco cracked open one of his eyes as he heard the doctor conversing with Tex on the other side of the door. The wolf stepped out of the office with a small white bandage strip on his shoulder to cover the stitching. He walked over to the small window where a female receptionist was busily filing through papers and grabbed the release forms. He sat down on a chair next to Falco and began filling out the papers with a pen that was attached to the clipboard, scratching down his name and information in dark blue ink.

"So how'd it go?"

Tex lifted his head from the papers for a moment as he heard Falco's question, then looked back down to continue his scribbling.

"It was ok, didn't get a lollipop though. I was really looking forward to that."

Falco couldn't discern from the wolf's tone of voice if he was being serious or not, so he simply cracked a smile and sat back in his chair.

"So where is Katt I believe her name was?"

"Eh, out in the main hall I think, she's not a fan of the whole blood and guts thing. You're not planning on wearing that shirt out of here are you?"

Tex looked down at the dark colored cloth he had clutched in his paw.

"Yes I was, why?"

"You got blood all over it that's why, you walk down the street with blood all over you, people gonna think you murdered somebody or something."

"I don't have much of a choice now do I?"

He placed the pen on the clipboard and walked back up to the window. After he finished with the release forms he pulled on his blood stained shirt and walked out of the waiting room, the doors automatically sliding open as he strode past them. Katt was waiting in the main hall just as Falco predicted, holding Tex's trench coat in her arms as she waited for the two.

"Thank you, Katt."

Tex spoke with his gruff voice as the pink feline handed his coat back to him. He pulled the coat's belt tight around him and buttoned up the front to cover the blood stains on his shirt and began walking out of the hospital. He stopped as he heard Falco shout from behind him.

"Where you off to in such a hurry, nights still young if you haven't noticed?"

"I'm going to bed; I've had enough excitement for one day. It was nice meeting you, Katt, and Falco...wipe that stupid smirk off your face."

Like a shadow the wolf melted into the darkness of the street as he left, occasionally a glimpse of him could be seen from the exposing rays of light that emitted from the street lamps and the passing cars.

* * *

Corneria City, hotel room #535, 10:05 p.m. local time

She was growing worried, if she didn't stop soon her continuous pacing would probably start wearing away at the floor. Like a caged predator, Vicky continued to slowly pace back and forth, her mind was filled with thoughts of Tex's whereabouts. It had been hours since he left the cemetery, she had decided against following him and simply let him be while she had a light dinner at a diner in town. The sky had grown black as coal when Solar finally disappeared to go off and illuminate the other side of the planet while the sounds of the city were replaced from the usual hustling of large groups walking across streets and busy traffic jams to that of solitary vehicles jetting down the street and the occasional homeless person pushing a rattling shopping cart down the sidewalk.

Victoria finally stopped her pacing as she attempted to restrain herself and try to calm down. _He's a grown man, he doesn't need you acing like you're his mother, besides this is your relaxation time, put it to good use._ She stepped outside to the deck and watched the cityscape move and react as if it were a living entity, clearing her mind as she inhaled the crisp night air. A chilling wind blew by, rustling her smoky grey fur and short hair cut in the traditional military fashion. She clutched a small lock and rubbed her fingers against it, the female wolf wasn't used to wearing her hair this short but it made it less of a hassle to deal with while she was in active duty.

Vicky wrapped her arms around herself as another breeze blew past her, causing the curtains in the sliding glass doors to sway in the wind behind her. Her ears twitched and swiveled behind her as she heard a noise come from the door. The mechanical click of the lock being disabled on the hotel door was heard from the other side as it slowly opened. Vicky turned around and walked back into the main area of the hotel room as Tex slowly pushed open the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him and hanging up his coat on a hook. She immediately noticed the dark area around his right shoulder and stood in front of his towering stature, not feeling even slightly intimidated by his height.

"So where've you been?"

Tex kept his expression neutral and looked down at the short animal standing in front of him.

"Could I perhaps sit down first?"

She stepped aside and allowed for him to sit down on the couch and he began loosening the straps on his boots. Vicky sat down next to him and observed the odd coloration of his shirt, while most of it was a deep navy blue, the area around his right shoulder was of a darker shade of the color.

"What did you do to your shirt?"

Tex looked up from his feet and glanced at his stained shirt.

"Oh that, long story..."

"I've got all night, what happened?"

"Well, I suppose it's easier if I show you."

He rolled up his sleeve and exposed the bandaged area of his shoulder, closing his eyes in preparation to what was forthcoming.

"What happened, are you alright?"

"Relax it's only a cut. I was at the slums when-

"You were at the slums, why in Goddess' name would you be there?"

"I went to go get a drink; it was the closest bar at the time. Some idiots decided to rob the place while I was there and Falco showed up soon after this was going on. We both decided to take the matter in our own paws and knocked them all out cold and dismantled their weapons, one guy jumped on me and well, he stabbed me."

Vicky reached up and gently touched the bandaged area of his shoulder, only for him to slightly draw back.

"It's fine, it doesn't hurt, nothing serious. I had a doctor look at it and its all fixed so don't worry about it."

The female wolf shook her head and sighed as Tex rolled down his sleeve and pull the boots off his feet. Dropping the pile of black leather, buckles and laces next to the door, he opened up his duffle bag and pulled out a pair of boxer shorts and sweat pants. He pulled off the red scarf that was tied around his forehead and stuffed the military tags that dangled around his neck into his coat pocket and disappeared inside the bathroom. Vicky's ears twitched as she heard the squeak of a shower handle being turned and a jet of water slapping against tiled floor. She quirked an eyebrow at this, she always thought Tex as a person who takes showers in the morning.

With the way he always wakes up at the crack of dawn or even earlier then that, a nice cold shower would probably work wonders for him. She decided not to ponder too much about his behavior, the strange creature known as Tex would take time and dedication to fully understand why he does what he does. On the other side of the bathroom door, the strange creature known as Tex leaned his head back as a deep and gruff sigh erupted from his mouth. The warm jets of water screaming out of the shower head did wonders for his aching body. He kept his right shoulder away from the moisture of the water as he clutched a bar of soup from the small dispenser next to him and lathered the white cube into his fur.

As he worked the soap into his fur, the jets of water would lift the creamy bubbly mush from his body and pull it down the drain along with the grime that melted off him. Tex massaged his left shoulder; he felt a pins and needles sensation in the area around where the chunk of his shoulder was missing, an early indication that another seizure of pain would soon attack his left arm. Tex clamped his jaw shut and continued to massage his shoulder as the crippling pain shot into him, causing him to crash onto his knees and growl in agony. He wrapped his tail around his leg and dug his claws into the shoulder that he clutched to while trying to dull the pain. When it finally went away, the wolf sat on the floor and propped his back against the glass surface of the shower wall as he caught his breath.

"Tex...?"

The wolf's eyes snapped open, revealing his bright silver gaze as he heard a soft voice over the pounding of the shower water slapping against the floor.

"Is everything alright? I heard a shout."

He calmed his breathing and stood up as he turned the showerhead off, replacing the soap back into its previous residence of the dispenser. Pushing away the glass door to exit the stall, he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked up to the bathroom door.

"I'm fine..."

He spoke in a calm demeanor. He shifted his shoulder so the bone sat in a more comfortable position in its socket. Drying off his fur, he pulled on his sweat pants and realized he had forgotten a shirt. _Damned fool, _he mentally kicked himself, he tightened the force against his jaw, clamping it shut and inhaled through his nose as he slowly pushed the door open. Tex finally exhaled his breath as he saw that Vicky wasn't standing in front of the door, he panned his gaze around the room to see that she was curled up on the couch clad in his over sized t-shirt and a pair of his boxers, her face and form being illuminated by the dim glow that the television screen emitted.

He stuck to the shadows as he slowly inched closer to his bag and quickly scrambled to pull out a shirt. Unfortunately, he was spotted before he could pull out the desired article of clothing and slowly turned his head.

"Do you want to watch some TV with me?"

Tex glanced back down at his bag, then back to Vicky as she patted a section of the couch next to her, gesturing him to sit down. He lightly stepped over and sat down on the couch, sinking into the cushion as Vicky inched slightly closer to get more comfortable, apparently unfazed by his exposed, scar ravaged upper body, or perhaps she didn't notice, it was rather dark. The wolf glanced in her direction; she never had the chance to get her own set of cloths so she was clad in one of his oversized shirts. He soon caught himself as he realized he was staring at her exposed legs and quickly averted his gaze back to the television screen.

"Um, w-what are we watching?"

He cleared his throat as he focused on the rather old looking program. The characters were colorized in black and white as glimpses of letters and words appeared on screen, then melted away to clear the view for him to watch the movie play out.

"To Kill a Mockingbird, it's a classic. It just started incase you've never seen it before. Oh and I hope you don't mind that I took some of your underwear."

"It's fine, and I've seen it, but I'll stay and watch for a little while."

The scenes played out, black and white as always. The lupine was rather surprised they never tried to restore this film, but he was thankful no one messed with it; it would spoil the experience of the movie. Tex had never read the book, he's always heard good things about it and everyone always says the book is better then the movie, but he never really had the time to sit down and read it. He soon lost track of the time as he continued to watch the movie, it was at a rather exhilarating part, Boo Radley had just saved Jem and Scout from old man Cunningham and it was a rather crucial plot point. Vicky had taken the liberty to lean against Tex as the movie was playing but he didn't mind, it was cold night and the warmth of her body was quite calming.

After about an hour or so, Tex noticed the rhythm of Vicky's breathing, it was relaxed and louder then usual as he glanced down to see that she had fallen asleep against him. He glanced back at the television and reached for the remote to cause the screen to turn black. She moaned softly as Tex moved to scoop her up in his arms and carry her to the queen sized mattress, gently setting her down and pulling the sheets to cover her curvaceous and muscular form. He watched as she slept for a moment, her chest rising and falling with her rhythmic breathing and her tranquil, carefree expression that was painted on her face. He faltered at first as he slowly reached out, attempting to restrain himself but he gave in and gently combed his fingers through her hair and stroked her ear.

Her lips parted as she sighed in comfort from his touch. Vicky flicked her ear as Tex's fingers brushed against it, continuing to sift them through her hair for a short time before he finally withdrew. The comforting touch seemed to only deepen her state of slumber as she was now fully asleep. The lupine rubbed the nape of his muscled neck and slumped back on the couch. With his feet facing the direction of the bed, draped over on the sofa's armrest and his head resting on a pillow that was propped up against the opposite side, Tex closed his eyes and tried to relax as the intoxicating, yet slightly fearful embrace of sleep began to tighten around him. He focused on Vicky's soft breathing and inhaled her scent to calm down and drown out the fears of falling completely asleep and stumbling into another nightmare.

He cracked open his right eye and lifted his head slightly to glance over his feet and look at the slumbering female that was enveloped in the soft blankets.

"Goodnight..."

He whispered softly. It was quite some time ago since he last spoke those words to another person before he himself fell asleep. Tex opened his mouth wide, exposing rows of lethal teeth as he erupted in a deep yawn. He dropped his head back down against the pillow and licked his lips as sleep pulled against him until he finally couldn't resist and began to breathe in rhythm along with the slumbering she wolf.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of the characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Planet Aldun, southern wasteland, 8:43 p.m. local time

Though they were told it would be cold, nothing could quite prepare them for this type of chill. The snow was thick and damp, the ice was hard and jagged, and the wind cut through cloth and meat and went strait for bone, slowly freezing you from within. Fox's thick furry tail whipped around in all directions along with the constantly changing winds. Since it was near the end of summer on the Cornerian calendar, the vulpine's winter coat had not begun to grow and he was feeling quite uncomfortable. He looked over his shoulder to the large metal rectangular shaped block that was buried deep into the snow.

The orbital scanners would have picked them up if they flew the Arwings down to the surface and the whole mission would be compromised, so he instead was sent rocketing toward the planet inside a planetary infantry transport. He looked up at the sky, the stars shown bright and brilliant from the absence of any other light source. Though the sky had grown dark, the planet was still very bright from the snow flailing in the wind. A streak of light passed through the sky as an object traveling at reckless speeds came crashing into the snow covered ground. A wave of powder kicked up from the impact and the metal crate's broad side was forced open.

Though she was bundled up from head to toe, Fox recognized Krystal stepping out of her transport and onto the snow with a soft _crunch._ She looked up from the crater she was standing in and waved to Fox as he helped her climb out of the hole. She glanced down at her wrist gauntlet to check their position and status.

"Tex should be landing soon!"

She had to raise her voice over the blizzard to be heard and glanced up at the sky along with the male fox to catch any sign of their teammate. As another streak of light cut through the sky, a mound of snow came crashing onto the two animals when the transport made contact with the planet. The entryway was kicked open and the lid of the container went flying from the force of the strong boot. Tex took a step onto the frozen surface of the planet for the first time. As he stepped off the metal floor of his transport and onto the snow, he sunk deep into it and was nearly consumed by the sea of white.

His paw broke free and flailed around for something solid to pull himself out of the hole, but Fox slid down the crater's slope and clutched the wolf's gloved paw.

"Need some help down there, or you just chilling out?"

Fox yelled down at the arm that sprouted from the snow, attempting to stifle his laughter. Tex responded by respectively extending his clawed middle finger to the vulpine that stood over his paw. With the combined effort of both Fox and Krystal, they managed to pull Tex free up to his shoulders. More then half his body was still submerged and even with his constant struggling, he barely flinched. He lifted his chin up to stare at the two foxes standing over him and sighed, a white cloud escaping from his mouth as the sub-zero temperature allowed him to see his breath.

Fox began to open his mouth; a wide grin chiseled on his face but was interrupted as Tex's free paw gestured for him to stop.

"Don't say anything, not so much as a chuckle."

The orange fox kept his lips closed, but the grin was still pasted on his face as he clutched the wolf's arm and heaved. Krystal came up behind the head that stuck out of the ground and she pushed against his shoulders to try and dislodge the lupine.

"Goddess you're heavy, you must weight at least three hundred pounds!"

Fox groaned as he pulled on the wolf's arm again.

"It's two eighty-four actually, you don't get to be as big as me without measuring quite a bit . Krystal, try positioning your arms under mine and lift up."

Krystal did as instructed and attempted to lift the massive wolf as he pushed up with his feet. Fox leaned back and gave one more strong pull and Tex finally broke free of the snow, flying forward and falling directly on top of Fox. Nearly three hundred pounds pinned the smaller animal to the ground, forcing the air out of his lungs as Tex quickly jumped off him. He brushed off some snow that collected on his coat and lifted the gasping fox onto his feet. He brushed off any snow that clung to the orange vulpine's body and patted him on the back.

"Sorry..."

Fox gave a cough in response and mustered all the breath he had to chuckle.

"Don't worry about me; it's her you should worry about."

He pointed behind the massive lupine towards Krystal.

"If you broke anything, she will be more pissed at you then I will."

The blue vixen giggled as Fox straitened himself and tried to become serious, they were on a mission after all. It was difficult to see, blinding snow and ice flailing in the wind obscured their line of sight by nearly half. He reached behind himself and pulled out a tinted visor from the pack that was slung over his shoulder and pushed against the insulated back of his winter jacket. Placing the device over his eyes, the snow and blizzard seemed to melt away from existence and he could see miles ahead of him. A few clicks to the left, he spotted a very large facility that seemed to sprout out of the mound of snow it sat upon like a flower after the winter frost melted away.

He extended his right index finger and shouted over the roar of the wind.

"There, that should be the target."

Tex stepped next to him and squinted as he leaned his head forward. With his superior vision, he could see a dark outlining of some large scale object. Not doubting his temporary boss's judgment, he grunted and nodded in confirmation. With their destination established, the three animals trudged through the knee high ocean of snow, staying low and occasionally diving head first into the soft white powder whenever Krystal sensed something or if Tex's ears twitched to even the slightest noise.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress, 9:08 p.m. local time

"Is it clear?"

"Seems to be..."

The slotted cover of the ventilation system was kicked off and flung forward from Tex's strong kick. He eagerly leapt out of the small square hole in the wall and crashed onto his feet. For such a large and heavy individual, he made barely any noise when his feet hit the metal floors. The wolf stayed hunched over with his paws flat on the floor and his knees bent as he panned his gaze for any sign of any surveillance equipment he might have overlooked. He glanced up and gestured the OK symbol with his clawed fingers and beckoned for Fox to drop from the ventilation system. The vulpine jumped from the hole and landed square on both feet, and then turned around holding his arms out in front of him in preparation to catch the blue vixen that dropped from above right after him.

Krystal grunted as she roughly fell into her mate's arms, causing Tex to bring a finger to his lips and emit a quiet _shh _from between his teeth. He pulled out one of his blasters and leaned up against the metallic wall, inching ever closer to the corner of the next hallway. He quickly glanced around the corner and noticed that not a soul was present so he re-holstered his gun.

"It's clear."

"Yes it is, for quite awhile actually."

Tex's unscarred right brow lifted at Krystal's' knowing grin as she rounded the corner, throwing prudence and caution to the wind.

"I don't sense thought patterns for quite awhile, they must be preparing for the next shift. We are fortunate we came as soon as we did."

She turned to face the two males that accompanied her and hooked a thumb and pointed behind her.

"We should move now while we won't be hindered. The thoughts are faint but I did over hear the preparation of the next shift would be soon."

Fox nodded and pulled out the blaster that was attached to his thigh, screwing on a silencer to the barrel. The elongated gun barrel gave the weapon a more intimidating look to it as he placed both paws on the handle and checked the sights on his pistol. Smirking in admiration, he glanced from his blaster to Tex who un-sheathed his impressive twin blaster pistols, they too also bore silencers on the barrels. He placed the pistols under his arms and pulled out possibly the largest handgun Fox had ever seen. The wolf flicked a switch and the monster of a weapon flipped open.

The barrel and chamber fell limp from the rest of the gun as Tex carefully slid six fully charged high-caliber energy cartridges into the chamber and flicked his wrist to flip the gun closed. He looked up from his gun to the gawking vulpine who then glanced disappointingly at his own weapon in his paws.

"I take it you've never seen one of these."

Fox slowly shook his head from left to right.

"Well as long as we're working together, you'll get used to seeing this."

"So...what is that?"

He glanced back down at the sleek, polished metal of the long barreled hand gun that looked large enough to fire tank rounds, yet its compact form could comfortably fit inside Tex's black and grey fingers. The barrel measured to about half the length of the fox's forearm and about half as wide. The barrel was designed rather strange as it sat under the bridge of the weapon instead of directly on top of it. Following the barrel to the chamber, the cylinder shaped body looked to be modeled after a revolvers where it would spin like a wheel as Tex flicked the side of it with his fingers. In a nutshell the gun appeared to be a revolver with a larger, thicker barrel that sat under the bridge, as well as a larger chamber that flipped open for reloading.

The lupine offered the handle to Fox who hesitated before he grasped it, shocked that he would even offer such a weapon to him so freely. The three animals strolled down the hallway as Fox continued to look over every aspect of what he could only describe as a "hand cannon". He turned the gun around in his paws a few more times, gripping the polished non-slip wooden handle and staring down the sights of the large barrel before handing it back to Tex. He was impressed to see that Tex could carry the massive thing so effortlessly in one paw as he holstered the weapon in its residence strapped to his lower back under the folds of his trench coat.

"A fifty caliber magnum class hand blaster. Well...it was a fifty caliber, but me being me I couldn't leave anything as it is. The barrel sits under the bridge so that whenever a shot is fired, the recoil automatically slides another round into the firing position. It's got quite a kick to it but it only holds six shots. But trust me, you'll only need one."

"Well, it is a very impressive gun; I look forward to seeing what it can do."

"Personally, I hope to hell I never have to use it. I've only used it once and even that scared the hell out of me, but that doesn't mean I won't use it if I have to."

"Really, what happened?"

Tex began to open his mouth to speak but was cut off as his left ear twitched and he quickly turned his head to face the direction of the noise. Krystal pulled out her own blaster as her telepathy could sense that some form of life was coming towards them. Tex knelt down and pulled off his glove to place his bare paw against the floor. The subtle vibrations of feet slapping against the floor ran up his fingers and he counted the individual steps.

"Six steps each, that would make three coming this way."

Krystal could sense three distinct thought patterns as she armed her blaster and melted into the shadows along with the other two animals. She heard the leather grip of Tex's blaster stretch as he tightened his fist around it. If she could focus the thoughts from the approaching voices, it could be possible to even hear the tow male's racing hearts. The three mercenaries held their breath as the voices came within ear shot.

"...Telling you, man, she was real. Looked like she jumped off the pages of a swim suit edition she was so hot."

The lanky form of a long nosed Doberman strolled down the hall with a semi-automatic rifle lazily dangling by the shoulder strap. He kept in pace with two other canines, a Chow on his left, and a mixed breed of wolf and Shepard on his right. The golden haired Chow rolled his brown eyes and bared his fangs.

"You shut the hell up, Hagen. I'm tired of you and your sick obsession with that trash you always have your nose buried in. Go get yourself a real girlfriend and stop making this one up. Or do you still prefer your right paw?"

The wolf dog snorted as he tried to stifle his laughter. Hagen whipped his head around and shot him a warning glance.

"She was real dammit, oh yeah she was real. Best girl I ever had, it was like magic."

"What, did you use your left paw this time, or did you just go faster with the right?"

The wolf hybrid and Chow both erupted into laughter as the thick golden dog slapped paws with the shorter haired canine. Before the Doberman could retort however, a large muscular arm reached out of the shadows behind him and coiled around his throat. He gasped as he was pulled into the darkness and disappeared behind the veil of shadows. The two other dogs readied their blasters and inched closer to the pitch black void of the corridor.

"Hagen...Hagen..."

The wolf-hound shouted as he inched closer to the edge of the darkness. The canines jumped back in surprise as the Doberman slowly emerged from the darkness. They lowered their weapons and walked closer to their comrade.

"What the hell were you doing back there? Enough screwing around, Hagen...Hagen?"

The black and brown dog didn't verbally respond but instead took a few more steps forward and crashed to his knees. He fell forward and collapsed to the floor, a small sharp pocket knife with barbs on each side of the blade protruded from his backside as he lay face down on the floor. The two Imperials raised their guns again at the dark area and inched towards Hagen again. The wound was precise, striking the vulnerable area between the spine and ribcage. The blade looked long enough to pierce the dog's heart, the cause of death and the lining of the wound was raw and unclean.

The blade was twisted and hooked into the Doberman's body so it couldn't be pulled out of the body so easily and clean, the work of a professional.

"You think Corneria found us?"

The wolf dog wrapped his fingers around the knife and tried to wrench it free from the corpse. The result was less then satisfying as his constant pulling and twisting was gradually reducing the flesh and muscle tissue of the Doberman's back into ground beef. The sound of metal scraping against bone was quite sickening to the Chow's ears as he laid them flat on his head.

"Nah, Corneria wouldn't be that ballsy. Besides, look at that, an execution like that could only be done by a highly trained individual. Hell I didn't even hear Hagen scream or shout when they killed him."

"Strange that the blood flow isn't as overwhelming from a wound like this."

"Yup, a professional did this. Stop twisting, you're making it worse, you'll have to whittle it out with another knife. It's hooked into the meat nice and deep."

The Chow pulled out a flashlight and scanned the dark corridor. Nothing could be seen except a small puddle of crimson that trailed out of Hagen's backside. The wolf dog stood up and looked down the corridor. He placed a finger to his shoulder and craned his neck towards the small box that was strapped to his left arm.

"HQ, this is Farthing, come in."

A static filled voice echoed through the walls as it rang out of the small device on Farthing's coat.

"This is HQ, what's the situation?"

"We have a man down at corridor six. We do not have a visual of the hostile, request assistance, over."

"Acknowledged, scanning area and sending back up to your position."

Farthing clicked off the device and pressed the stock of his rifle to his shoulder, flipping a small button and turning on a green laser sight.

* * *

Planet Corneria, agency HQ, bunk room #3, 7:03 a.m. local time

The metal of the zipper growled as it was placed together and closed. The form fitting stealth suit slid on like a glove as if it had been designed just for her body type. Agent Victoria McCoy, a very successful, strong, and beautiful woman looked herself over to make sure her equipment was correctly secured and armed to her suit. The sleek material of the stealth suit was of a black and dark blue color scheme. She sighed as she looked at the colors she wore.

The new suit she was issued was very nice, but it would take time to replace her original uniform. Her last one was ripped to shreds during her assignment on Crones, but this one would prove useful. She clicked a button on her wrist and slowly turned the knob clockwise until she noticed her body became transparent until it faded to nearly nothing. Everything but her head had disappeared into thin air since she did not wear the head mask. She turned the knob counter clockwise and her body reappeared again.

So it would prove quite useful. Vicky took one last check on all her systems as she walked out the door to the main chamber of high ranking officials. She was possibly one of the finest agents in the building, always breaking records in the simulations and outperforming nearly everyone in every aspect. Her teammate, Keith Lugar, was very close to her in standings and skill, yet he was always just a little farther behind her. This constant battle of skill and standing within the agency had caused them to become quite the competitors, as well as very close friends, and unlike most men Vicky met, he rarely had sex on his mind.

The dark grey automatic door slid open as she came within proximity and she stepped into the equally dark room that was only illuminated by a holographic projection of the agency symbol slowly hovering above a large machine in the middle of the room. Keith, a thin, red and white fox stood up from the wall he was leaning on as Victoria stepped into the room. He smiled and greeted his friend in the usual manner.

"Hey, McCoy, breaking records again, or just breaking hearts?"

Vicky never was one for lasting relationships and Keith would rub it in her face every chance he could. Truth was the wolf had never met anyone she truly wanted to spend time with longer then maybe a date or two. She gave a dry chuckle and punched him in the shoulder.

"Very funny, Lugar, but you know better then to talk down your superior."

"You're just my superior by a little bit, which by the way I'll make up if you don't get your act together."

"It was a mistake, happens to the best of us. Besides, I didn't see you take the effort to rescue me. Who knows, you might have outranked me for a stunt like that. Poor Keith must feel bad being in a woman's shadow for so long."

The fox merely sneered and leaned back against the wall and looked on to the holographic display as it shifted into the visage of the agency's three shadowy leaders. More high ranking individuals poured into the room and stood in front of the speaking leaders of the agency. Vicky and Keith both stood next to one another leaning up against the wall as they occasionally listened to the speaking leader's instructions. Except the two of them, each agent stood in single file lines with their arms to their sides and chins raised in attention, Vicky just thought of them as mindless drones.

"To be an agent is to be darkness itself, embrace the shadows as you would embrace freedom. You must become one with the shadows and nothing else. All obstacles must be pushed from your mind. Defeat all emotion that stands in your way to victory, but do not harbor hate towards those you have targeted, do not become mindless in your line of duty, for values and honor is what makes us animals and not monsters."

Vicky looked down and reached into one of her pockets. She clutched a small object that brushed against her fingers and held it in her palm. A dented, gnarled body of a bullet rolled around in her paw as she touched it.

"Tex..."

She whispered. Keith seemed more interested in the constant blathering of the holographic images of the leaders so he could not hear her. She rolled the bullet around in her paw as images of the recent past played out in her head.

_Tex stood in the hanger, the engines of the gigantic ship behind him were only just beginning to come to life. He held a duffle bag over his shoulder while another bag clutched in his right paw. The other animals that made up the Star Fox team were beginning to board the ship, Fox giving his last goodbye to General Pepper before boarding. Victoria stood in front of Tex, staring up at him and waiting for him to depart._

"_How long will you be gone?"_

_She had taken the liberty to pick up some of her own cloths instead of running around in Tex's larger clothing. Her hair rustled in the wind as did her blouse._

"_Not sure, I'm not even authorized to be on this planet."_

"_Will you come back?"_

_Tex looked down at the floor, then back up to her. He shook his head and reached into his pocket with his free paw._

"_I don't know. But as soon as this whole thing is over, I'll have my citizenship restored and I can be able to come back here without the government's permission. I would like to see you again."_

_He held out his paw to her and dropped a small object in her palm. _

"_I want you to have this. It isn't much but I thought that well...you would...like something to remember me by."_

_He rubbed the back of his head and sighed as Vicky rolled the small dented visage of a bullet in her paw._

"_What is it?"_

"_It's a bullet, a very special one."_

_She examined it but found it to appear normal._

"_Looks like any ordinary bullet."_

_He dropped the bag in his right paw and lifted up the red scarf that was tied around his forehead to expose the small scar from where he had the surgery to repair his skull. She realized immediately what he was telling her. _

"_This...this is the..."_

"_Yep, the bullet that cracked my skull and gave me the metal plate in my head."_

_She looked back down at the piece of metal in her paw and rolled in around with her finger._

"_Like I said it's not much. If you don't want it, I understand. I'm not much for gift giving so if it freaks you out that I got shot in the head with that thing I can just-_

_Vicky placed a finger to his lips and stopped him from his verbal marathon. She giggled and patted the side of his face._

"_Normally I can't get you to say one word, and when you do, it's when I need to say something to you."_

_Tex remained silent and eagerly awaited Vicky's response._

"_Your right, it isn't much, but that doesn't mean it isn't special. Thank you, Tex; I'll keep it with me to remember you until you come back. I like it; it's a nice little piece of history."_

_She flipped it over with her fingers again and placed it in her pocket. She looked up as Tex began speaking again._

"_I will see you again. You're my friend, Vicky; you're the only friend I have really so that makes you special to me."_

_He paused as he tired to think of what else to say. _

"_I...I've never been good talking with people so...I apologize."_

_Vicky took a step closer and wrapped her arms around his torso without a word. The lupine hesitated at first, but he returned the hug with his scar covered arms. Victoria looked up from his chest and spoke._

"_I have something for you too."_

_She gestured for him to lean closer to her and waited for what she would give him._

"_It's not much...but it's something for you to remember me by."_

_He noticed that Vicky wasn't holding anything and he began to grow puzzled to what she would give him. Before he could think, she stepped forward and placed her lips against his. His eyes grew wide for a moment and then his lids lazily fell as he melted into the kiss. She placed her paws on both sides of his face and pulled him closer to her mouth, he was too surprised to do anything but move his lips against hers as his body felt limp and heavy. Tex found new life surge through his muscles as he slowly wrapped his arms around the female's waist and pull until they were flush against each other. Vicky finally pulled away and slid her paws under his black coat to rub his shoulders. _

_Tex sucked in air through his nose as he regained his composure, his eyes were fully open and his pupils shrunk to pinholes. Vicky moved a paw up to his face and rubbed it again, tracing the long scar that ran down the left side of his face with her finger. He licked his lips, feeling the remaining sweetness that clung to his mouth. _

"_That...that was nice..."_

_Was all that escaped his mouth. He searched for words, but nothing came to mind for him to say. His face faltered in embarrassment to the long silence and looked down at the floor. Vicky lifted his chin with her paw so that they stared into each other's eyes. She scratched underneath his chin, rubbing the long hairs at the end that made up his goatee._

"_Come back soon, ok?"_

_He slowly nodded and gave her one last quick peck on the cheek before walking up to the sleek white mother ship that began to hum and rumble as the engine was activating. He turned around one last time to see Vicky shouting to him at the top of her lungs, yet the roar of the engine drowned out her voice. He wanted to go back down and ask what she was saying to him but the door slid shut in front of him, sealing him inside the Great Fox as it lifted off the ground._

"_...Bye..."_

"_McCoy!"_

"_What?"_

_She looked around but no one was near._

"_McCoy! Snap out of it!"_

"What, what?"

A pair of red paws clutched her shoulders and violently shook her from her memory. Keith jokingly knocked on her head as if it were a door.

"Hello, come in Victoria, this is Keith, you there girl?"

Vicky shook her head and came back into reality. The hanger melted away and was replaced with the dark room of the elite agent chambers.

"Let go, I'm fine...did I miss anything?"

Keith shook his head and hooked a thumb behind him.

"The masters are still talking all those numbskulls' heads off. You alright, you've been acting strange?"

She pulled on her suit to smooth out the wrinkles and leaned back against the wall, replacing the bullet that was clutched in her paw back into her front pocket.

"I'm fine, just something on my mind."

"Oh yeah, such as?"

"That's really none of your business."

"Hah, I knew something was wrong with you. Little Vicky's got herself a crush don't she?"

The fur around the wolf's cheeks grew red hot as she clutched the fox's collar and pulled him so that they were face to face.

"Shut up you idiot! Not so loud, and no it isn't a crush!"

"No need to get so defensive about it now. So who is he, another one of those poor saps you're gonna dumb a week later?"

Vicky slapped the side of his head still clutching the cloth around his throat.

"Keep your voice down and stop wasting words and fresh air with your retarded thoughts!"

"Yup, you're head over heels for this guy. I wonder..."

He drew closer and kept his voice to a low whisper.

"Did you two happen to share a nice evening together?"

Her entire face grew warm with rage and embarrassment. Vicky wouldn't lie, she had thought of such things between her and Tex. But she wasn't some hussy to sleep with a man she only just met. She dragged Keith out of the room where she was able to verbally explode without disrupting the meeting.

"You damned idiot, you know me better then to even think such things! No I did not sleep with him, no he is not some dumb sap I'm going to blow off, and no I'm not..."

She trailed off. Keith leaned forward and waited for her to finish her outburst with a wide grin on his red and white furred face. If she said she wasn't in love with him it would be a lie, if she said she was in love with him, it would seem rather strange considering they have only known each other for a grand total of twelve days.

"You're not..."

"I...I'm..."

"Go on, Vicky, just say it. I won't tell anyone else if you'd like. You can trust me; remember all those secrets I've told you?"

"I-I'm...

"You're..."

"In love with him...I'm in love with him..."

"Feels better to say it don't it? So this guy of yours, he got a name?"

"Yes...Tex..."

* * *

_Author's note: I've been thinking of writing a Sly Cooper story, just something I think from time to time. I was inspired by the idea from one of my favorite author's on this site, I'm sure you've heard of him and his story, Kit-Karamak and his story Spy Cooper. Though I'm sure it won't be as famous or well known as his, I want to give it my best shot. But the problem is, should I start another story while this one is still in progress? Will that effect this story or my future Sly Cooper story? Will it be a good Sly Cooper story for I've only given it some thought and not a whole lot on a future plot line? Will I bum out the people who want to read this fic and see it to the end before I go off and start another project? (I promise you here and now that I will finish this story no matter what happens.) Will god ever answer my prayers and fix the flat tire on my car? Will I ever get a hair cut? Will I ever win the lottery when I turn 18? Will I ever experience true love instead of some girl who just wants to do inappropriate things with me? You tell me. Answer my questions (Disregarding my personal problems unless you wish to answer those ones too, your choice.) and tell me if you think it's a good idea. Don't get me wrong, I've put thought into it, I'm not just starting with an idea that only took me three seconds, but like when I always write, I have no clue where it will lead me. I know I wanted to focus on a good Star Fox fic, maybe even a series, but a nice change of pace can do wonders for me. Sorry about all the reading you'll have to do if you decide to even read this, but give me an answer if you can, I appreciate it very much._

-Tex


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of the characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Planet Aldun, inner tundra fortress, 9:28 p.m. local time

"Slow down and talk in a language I can understand!"

Fox McCloud held a rather loud, fast talking Imperial soldier that wore a more decorative uniform then he was accustomed to seeing. The soldier's coat was of a darker color and studded with what appeared to be tiny gold plates pinned on his chest. On the right side of his chest bore the black fist that clutched a hammer, the symbol of the Imperial forces. Fox clutched what he identified as an officer by the collar of his full length coat. Both arms were broken so he had no way to retaliate against the vulpine.

His coaxing to make the officer speak in Lylat wasn't working so he attempted to converse with him in the Imperial language.

"Uh...Vor...valpma Lylatians covorsek?"

His accent wasn't very good, nor his pronunciation, but the soldier seemed to get the message.

"Your pronunciation makes me sick!"

"Where is main chamber?"

He could always just have Krystal converse with him. But if there was ever a time when they wouldn't be on the field together, he would need to get all the practice he could gather on speaking Imperial. His broken dialect caused the officer to laugh and shake his head.

"Filthy Lylat scum doesn't even know how to speak correctly."

"Answer question."

"I will do no such thing."

Fox reared his paw back and struck a blow to the officer's face. The Imperial groaned in pain but didn't give an answer. The vulpine sighed and offered his position to Krystal. She knelt down and touched the soldier's forehead, closing her eyes and relaxing her body. In her subconscious, she was quickly led down winding corridors and hallways, taking sharp turns and walking through doors until she stood in front of a large door that was labeled "main fortress chamber".

She reopened her eyes and withdrew from the soldier. The blue vixen turned to Fox and pointed behind him.

"It's in that direction. However, we're going to need to find a means of opening the door when we arrive."

The orange fox nodded to his mate and lifted up the soldier, handing him to Tex. The wolf grabbed the officer and slung him over his shoulder.

"We're going to need him, make sure to keep him close."

The scarred wolf nodded and shifted his shoulder so that the Imperial sat more comfortably on him. With Krystal leading the way, the trio made their way down the bitter cold hallways of the fortress.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress surveillance room, 9:30 p.m. local time

The reinforcements were dispatched to corridor number six and the area had been thermal scanned. But aside from the Imperial troops, there were no heat signatures to be found.

"This is HQ; surveillance has not picked up any sign of hostile presence. Reinforcements will continue to sweep the area."

The leopard took his finger off the button to the transmission system and swiveled around in his chair as he heard the sliding automatic door open behind him. Commander Thomas Kaiser walked up to the assorted screen and scanned them all with his natural and mechanical eyes.

"What is the situation on corridor six?"

His rasped voice, dew to breathing the incredibly hot air from the magma exposure made him sound rather menacing.

"Corridor six has been swept, sir. So far, scanners don't show any hostile presence in the area."

"Hostile presence?"

"Yes, Private Hagen was killed not too long ago by an edged weapon in the corridor. Corporal Rim and Private Farthing reported no visual of any hostile in the corridor when Hagen was assassinated."

"Interesting..."

The coyote rubbed his chin with his cold metal fingers in contemplation. He caught something out of the corner of his robotic eye and pointed to the screen as quick as a flash.

"There, where is that?!"

The leopard turned to the screen but saw nothing as he glanced at it. He slowly rewound the footage and caught a glimpse of movement.

"It appears to be a blur of movement, sir. I'm unable to enhance the image on this particular camera, something must be wrong with the circuitry. I believe that camera is positioned near the engineering bay."

As the yellow furred cat spoke, many of the screens on the wall randomly began to fade and be replaced with static or completely darken. Kaiser's eye twitched in anger as rage began to surge in him. He would simply take his aggression out on some random individual if it came to that so he turned to leave and strode down the hallways towards the engineering bay. His nostrils burned from catching the brief smell of a familiar scent. His eyes grew large and the red iris on his artificial optic implant glowed with the intensity of a star.

His eyes shifted about erratically, his robotic one hissing as he zoomed in and out while cycling through different vision options. His nose twitched again as he caught a second whiff of the scent.

"That stench, it burns my nose like sulfur."

He rasped in his native language. Bringing a paw to his mouth as a fit of coughing and wheezing broke him from his stature.

"The scent...that scent..."

He stood up and cleared his throat of the syrupy like gunk that flowed through his throat and lungs to help them function and retain their moisture. He cleared his throat once more and spat the nutrient rich liquid from his mouth and followed the familiar scent.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress main chamber entrance, 9:43 p.m. local time

"There, that should be it."

Krystal pointed a blue finger towards the door that stood in front of the trio of animals. Tex dropped the limp officer's body from his shoulder and onto the floor. Pulling out his knife, he held the blade under the Imperial's chin and brought him closer to the door.

"So, why did we bring him along?"

Fox looked from the door to the tall wolf and grabbed the Imperial officer by his collar again. In his poor use of the Imperial language, he conversed with their captive.

"How we open door?"

The officer's head was feeling far too heavy for his neck to sustain and he sagged to the left. His grip with consciousness was quickly slipping so the fox slapped the side of his face to coax him awake.

"Stay awake, tell us how to open door."

He peeled his eyes open and stared at the vulpine clutching his coat collar. He weakly hefted his paw up to point at a small object protruding from the wall near the door.

"Retinal scanner...but I'm not authorized."

Fox cursed under his breath and dropped the Imperial to the floor. Tex kneeled down to face eye level with the Imperial to study his irises.

"He's lying..."

Fox's pointed ears swiveled to the direction of the wolf's deep voice. Clutching the Imperial by the back of his skull, the lupine lifted the soldier up onto his feet and shoved his face into the retinal scanner.

"You're sure he's lying?"

Fox stood beside the wolf, measuring only up to his shoulders. The air in Tex's lungs hissed out of his coal black nose as he waited for the eye scanner to be complete.

"I could see it. You get good at reading the eyes in my line of business, untrustworthy clients and scammers trying to increase their finder fees and what not."

"I see..."

The vulpine glanced at Krystal with a hint of suspicion in his emerald gaze and then refocused back on the thick metal door as the retinal scanner beeped in conformation. A green light lit up as the machine beeped and the large door began to slide on its hinges to make way for the dank, humid chamber. As the three animals stepped inside, they noticed immediately the temperature change. It was damp and warm, somewhat like a rainforest right after a storm, or the lush jungles of Fortuna. The moisture in the hair caused the fur on the trio's bodies so slightly fluff up and frizz, Tex's body swelled from his thick steel grey fur to the point where he had to shed his trench coat and the padded vest he wore underneath it, exposing the gleaming plates of armor that covered his chest.

The warm air felt very out of place in the cold metal complex of the rest of the fortress and the ice cold air that seeped through the cracks in the plated walls. Krystal shed her own coat, keeping on her long sleeved navy blue shirt and matching colored vest. The deeper the ventured the warmer it seemed to become.

"This is strange; it feels...like this room is alive."

Fox pulled off his jacket, tying the sleeves around his waist and letting it drape over his frizzing tail. He wiped a collection of moisture from his brow and rubbed the white stripe of fur that grew in-between his pointed ears. Poor Tex, his winter fur had grown so thick and warm from the size of his body as he began to pant and drip with perspiration.

"It's getting warmer...the farther we go."

He spoke between panting.

"Why...are we...even here...again?"

"To put an end to whatever it is they are conducting in here."

The orange fox took a few more steps; breathing in the hot air was rather difficult as his lungs felt uncomfortable. Krystal clutched her throat and coughed.

"It's hard to breathe...feels like a plastic bag is over my head."

"We...have to keep...going..."

Fox pushed on, grasping his mate's wrist and pulling her with him. Tex lifted his foot; it felt as if it were made of solid lead. He slammed it back down on the floor and lifted his other one.

"It's...getting...too hot, can't breathe."

"Keep...going..."

Fox turned around as he felt the wrist in his paw grow limp and noticed that Krystal collapsed on the floor.

"Krys...get up...we have to...keep going."

Fox lifted her limp body into his arms and continued walking, making slow but steady pace. The large wolf behind him crashed to his knees and lifted his gaze up to the ceiling, his eyes rolling up into his head as he struggled to remain conscious.

"Good...idea...Krys...I could...use a nap."

"Tex no, you need to...stay awake..."

"Can't...too tired..."

The wolf collapsed onto the floor and let the breath escape from his lungs. Fox couldn't fight it any longer, he felt as if he sweat out half his body weight and he set down the slumbering form of Krystal on the floor. Crashing to his knees, the vulpine crawled a few more inches and landed on his stomach, inching closer on the floor to move his paw to clasp Krystal's limp fingers as his eyelids began to fall. Still he resisted but the salt filled moisture seeped into his eyes and caused him to slam them shut in defiance. He had sealed his fate as his eyes were glued shut and he fell limp.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress main station, 9:45 p.m. local time

The scent, the scent, it clung to the inside of his nose. Somehow it stayed with him all the way to the station for the entire fortress. Kaiser ejected the sleek blade from his wrist and tested its sharpness by pricking his finger. A small red dot bubbled up to the surface of his index finger and he licked off the crimson liquid in satisfaction. His sixth sense began to kick in and he had the sudden to continue following this scent.

He couldn't place the familiarity but he did remember this particular stink from some time recently. The scarred flesh of his burnt body seemed to sizzle and grow warm as he inhaled the scent once more. His eyes grew again and the bright red iris of his bionic optical implant shifted to a dull blue as he cycled to the thermal vision setting. The entire background of the fortress changed to a dark blue color as the machinery in the next room glowed a bright orange and red. The coyote focused his vision down the hallway and scanned his gaze through the walls until he stopped on a particularly warm spot.

"Interesting..."

He sneered. The entire room was engulfed in an orange mist like substance. He immediately identified the mist as oxygen and moisture particles in the air, but a few solid objects that held a blinding glow of red piled onto the floor caused him to pause. They looked to be organic but the identity of what they were was a mystery. The familiar scent wafted to him again and his raw burnt flesh grew warm again as a single word slid off his tongue and passed his lips.

"Hempioro..."

The familiarity of the scent became all too clear. That crisp, musky scent of an individual who worked regularly with machinery and oil drenched contraptions flied his lungs as he inhaled the smell of his adversary.

"You survived the magma of the volcano...that makes two of us. Oh how delicious this is for us to meet again, this surly is a gift."

Kaiser began strolling towards the humidity filled room at his own leisure, from the looks of what he identified as the limp forms of the mercenaries that had caused him and his emperor much grief; they wouldn't be on the move anytime soon.

"Couldn't beat the heat I've noticed. Not to worry, I'll make sure you're ready and fit when we finish what we started on Crones. You deserve a warrior's death, you've earned that much from me."

His eye shifted back to a red glow and his natural yellow glazed eye seemed to glow in unison along with it. The tan colored animal pulled his black lips back in a fang filled grin.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress main chamber, 9:55 p.m. local time

The bright, hollow silver gaze of Tex Hempioro slowly panned back and forth from his spot on the floor. He had awoken, but how? The heat was unbearable; at least it used to be. Another moment passed and his ability to breathe came easier to him. He glanced at Fox and Krystal; they were still unconscious from their heat induced stroke as they slumbered in a puddle of their own perspiration.

The wolf weakly stood up and wiped the sweat from his face and eyes as he circled to view his surroundings. The room was large, completely empty and dark; it reminded him of a cave. He even heard dripping water echo from the darkness, but that wasn't all his sharp ears took notice to. A clicking sound, metal tapping against metal caused his ears to flicker every which way to the bouncing sound waves. The clicking grew louder as he unsheathed his twin blasters, spreading out his arms to cover as many directions as he could.

Now the clicking focused to one direction, directly behind him. He quickly swung around and disabled the safety switches on his pistols. At first glance, Tex raised an eyebrow in confusion as he witnessed a glowing red dot in the black background. A tip of a black armored boot stepped forward from the shadows, followed by an armored plated sole that clicked against the floor.

"Hello, Tex."

The wolf couldn't place the voice; it sounded familiar but was full of static as the disembodied speaker wheezed his name. _Be careful,_ the voice in his mind told him,_ be damn careful._ Tex watched as an outlining of a body that was concealed behind a cloak seemed to materialize from the void.

"Who..."

The wolf trailed off as the tan fur of a coyote bearing a glowing red iris and a bright yellow eye stepped forward, his right foot clicking as the sole slapped against the metal floor. His entire body was concealed by a dark cloak that was held together by a circular pin bearing the Imperial seal next to his left shoulder. The left side of his face was badly burned and the ear on that same side was half missing. His right side was strangely untouched and neatly trimmed and well kept. What Tex could see from the gap of the cloak, the coyote was clad in a beetle black vest and his trousers were padded with ebon forged metal thigh, knee, and shin guards.

"Recognize my voice, Hempioro? I may look a little different since last we met, but I bet you can recognize my voice you damned lab experiment."

Tex's eyes grew large and his lips parted as he breathed out the next word.

"No..."

"Oh yes."

Thomas Kaiser, commander of the Imperial Black Ops division and newly appointed Emperor's second held his arms out in a greeting fashion as he smiled and gave a rasping chuckle.

"You seem surprised, I'm appalled. To think I could be dealt with so easily, it pays to be seen as a valuable asset in the Emperor's eye. Shame you didn't take my offer last we met or you could have shared in the glory of knowing that death won't take you so freely."

Normally Tex would have responded by accepting his death with open arms and a smile, but a certain female wolf made him think otherwise. He had dreamed of having his life ended numerous times, it wasn't like he would be missed; the constant suffering of being alone and the echoing voice in his head nearly drove him to suicide numerous times. But no, he promised to see Victoria again. The wolf was stunned, the bastard survived. He was shocked yes, but something told him that this individual would rear his ugly head again.

He should have stayed to verify that he had died but the walls literally were crashing down around him.

"Kaiser...you're looking well."

"I owe the thanks to you my friend. Let me repay you in kindness."

The coyote lunged forward, the blade from his wrist ejecting from its slot and grazing against Tex's plated chest. He sidestepped to the left but the blade gave the polished armor a deep gash to the abdominal area.

"Glad to see you still retained your reflexes, it would be a shame to kill you so quickly."

"True, but if you killed me you would spare me of staring at that power sanded face of yours. Quite heart breaking really, I doubt you'll get any tail into bed with a mug like that."

"You're one to talk, but this isn't a duel of words..."

The coyote unpinned his cloak and let it glide to the floor. The beetle black vest reflected off the metallic plating of his robotic arm and shoulder, casting his grey prosthetics to turn a dull onyx. Tex noticed that the tan colored mammal had no holsters strapped to his thighs like last they met.

"Didn't anyone tell you never bring a knife to a gun fight?"

The wolf twirled both pistols on his fingers and tossed them behind his back. Twirling around, he grabbed the guns behind him and threw the left one under his arm as he tossed the right above his head. He juggled his blasters for a few moments, clipping off the silencers and replacing them into his pockets as he grasped the flying guns from the air and retrained them on the coyote.

"You and I have unfinished business, enough of your games and be serious. Fight me as a warrior would, anyone can shoot a gun, but it takes true skill to match with a blade."

Kaiser unsheathed his signature curved weapon with a carved pearl white handle and a gleaming stainless blade. Tex holstered his blasters and placed his leather harness on the floor as he pulled out his own knife.

"I should be getting paid extra for dealing with you."

They began to circle one another; the only sound was the rhythmic breathing of the two slumbering foxes on the floor.

"You believe you can win?"

The coyote wiggled his metallic fingers in anticipation as he rasped to the lupine. Tex shrugged and twirled the knife in his paw by one of the hooked barbs near the handle of the blade.

"I'm not much of a believer in anything, but I do believe I recall you having some trouble keeping up with me."

"Overconfidence will lead to your downfall my grey friend."

"And underestimating me will lead to yours."

Kaiser cleared his throat and spat a large glob of syrupy fluid from his mouth. Lacing his fingers together, he nosily cracked his knuckles. The metallic fingers of his bionic paw seemed to crack and grind along with his natural ones, causing Tex to grimace in slight disgust. The black armored animal took a stance and readied his blade. Tex did the same, glancing at the tan canine to look for any opening in his stance.

Kaiser had gotten wise, not one opening appeared in his stance.

"Are you ready?"

The wolf looked back up to stare at the coyote's face, probing his gaze with his dead, hollow grey irises.

"Born ready, begin."

Kaiser stepped ahead, balancing on the tip of his armored left boot and springing forward towards the wolf. Tex brought his knife up to block the blow, a shower of sparks sprang from the blade and disappeared as they hit the floor. Their knives pushed against one another, neither of them gaining any ground.

"You've gotten tougher, Kaiser. But then again I don't have any hardware plugged into my body."

"Though I could kill you without them, they do serve their purpose."

The coyote's shining left arm lunged forward, the sleek blade ejecting from his wrist and flying for the wolf's neck. Tex grasped his wrist and forced the blade to retract back into the coyote's arm. They spared for a long moment, the floor beneath them warming up from their constant shower of sparks and their shifting feet. Tex spun his body around in a complete circle. Like a bladed top he spun towards Kaiser until he hit the edge of his pearl handled knife and switched his knife to his left paw and brought his right one out to strike the coyote in the nose.

Even with Tex's superior size and muscle strength, Kaiser could equal it with his enhancements. His leg implant made his recovery flawless and his speed superb, while his arm implant increased his strength nearly ten fold. Tex looked for an opening, but with only a split second to analyze his foe, he couldn't spot any weak point. Kaiser however had all the time in the world, his bionic eye had recorded the wolf's movement patterns and techniques and it would just be a matter of time before memorizing the records would make Tex very predictable. Another slice scratched against Tex's chest plates, causing an ear piercing screech to echo through the room like a nail scratching against a blackboard.

The mammoth lupine jumped back to regroup, Kaiser however didn't give him the chance. He lunged at the larger wolf and dealt out another flurry of slashes and jabs. Tex countered and parried each blow, yet Kaiser had nearly finished memorizing his records. After he swung back, he turned the blade around in his paw so that he held the blade upside down. Hooking his arm back towards Tex, Kaiser swiped the tip of his blade into the right cheek of Tex's face.

The lupine leaned back to place his paws to the floor and he lifted his feet off the ground to perform a back flip and strike the knife from Kaiser's own paw. Tex wiped the trickle of crimson blood that dripped from his face with the back of his paw and winced to the sting of the deep cut. He glanced at Kaiser, then to the knife that was thrown to the floor. The coyote did the same, glancing to Tex and back to his discarded weapon.

"Go on, Kaiser, go for it."

"You think me for a fool?"

"You want your knife don't you? Go ahead, grab it."

"Unfortunately for you, I don't need it lab freak!"

Thomas Kaiser stretched out his left arm and a cylinder shaped object perturbed from his wrist as a single blaster shot flew from the small barrel. The shot had little force behind it, but with enough to blast the knife from the wolf's own paw. He watched it twirl in the air before it landed on the floor by the tip of the blade so that it stood up from sticking out of the floor.

"We seem to be at an impasse. The game has changed, Tex, now we both choose. Will you go for your blade, or will you attempt to stop me from grabbing mine before you and gaining the advantage?"

"Funny, I was thinking of asking you the same question. Are you really sure you're faster then me, do you think you'll get to your knife before I do? Only one way to find out, Kaiser, I'd choose carefully."

Neither one moved, they simply stared at one another. The two scanned each other, looking for even the slightest hint of movement. Who would go first, who would make the move and ultimately seal this fight?


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of the characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress main chamber, 12:21 a.m. local time

How long the fight lasted, they didn't know. How many days have passed, they couldn't tell. All they knew was the rusted taste of blood and sweat as it dripped on the floor and collected into puddles. Their previous stare down was met by the both of them lunging for their own blades and resuming the fight. The chamber was filled with steel clanging against each other, the grunts, roars, and squeals of the two heated combatants, and the shuffling of booted feet.

Tex placed his leg in front of Kaiser's path and flipped him to slam down hard on the coyote's back. Tex stabbed downward, intent on finishing his job, yet the tan animal had a few more surprises for the wolf. Ejecting a flash grenade from his belt, Kaiser disappeared into thin air as a bright flash of light rendered Tex momentarily blind. The wolf was wise to this trick; the coyote would soon come out of hiding and strike so he readied his blade and waited. His body was covered in scratches; his face flowed like a water fountain, spouting small dribbles of crimson that fell to the floor.

There were about as many cuts as there were scars on his body, fortunately he had not experienced any spasms of pain. The problem was, he was pushing his body to the limits and beyond, it would only be a matter of time. Seeing as Kaiser wouldn't perform his ambush any time soon, Tex took this opportunity to rest and refocus. Sitting on the ground, he crossed his legs and closed his eyes as he steadied his heart and lungs from pounding out of his ribcage. He wished he had his headphones, music always helped him relax.

He sat in that position for a long while, simply breathing in air. The wolf felt the moisture on his fingers from the blood that poured from his scratches, soaking into his fur and dying it a blazing shade of red. Aside from a few clean spots on his arms and neck, his entire body was dyed crimson, some of it his own blood, some from his opponent. Kaiser probably looked just as worse. The hollow grey eyes snapped open and he quickly bolted up.

With a flick of his notched ear, Tex bolted up and swung his knife as struck it against an equally solid sharp edge. The duel continued a flurry of swings and lunges, sparks and clangs, somewhere along the line Kaiser pulls out his wrist blade again and attempts to give Tex a pierced nose. He rears back and it instead sinks into his left forearm. Tex had stopped the blow from cleaving his face, but the sleek, slender blade punctured strait through his left forearm, rendering it useless. The wolf threw his head up to the ceiling and howled and bared his teeth to the red hot sting that shot up his arm.

The coyote placed his armored foot to the wolf's chest and pushed off, sliding the blade out of his arm and jumping back from his foe. Glancing at the wrist knife, Kaiser brought it to his black lips and licked the crimson liquid from his blade.

"The blood of the vanquished, nothing tastes sweeter in this world."

Tex clutched his limp left arm, holding his blade within his gritting teeth and slamming his eyes shut as they began to water. The veins in his neck pulsed and rose to the surface of his skin. Kaiser continued in his gravel filled voice.

"How ironic, you take my arm and now I take yours."

Tex tuned in and out, he was too angry and dizzy to clearly hear what the tan animal was saying.

"You underestimated me, Hempioro. This isn't your element, steel walls, and small spaces, no you need living things and you need dirt under your feet. Do you know of your species heritage?"

The wolf quaked with red hot hatred, letting Kaiser to simply continue as he drew in a haggard breath.

"Your kind suffer from an all too familiar word, do you know what that is? It's called support. Your kind needs the help of others, acting as one instead of the individual to accomplish amazing feats. But do you see any help? Do you see another member of your 'pack' with you? I certainly don't, you're all alone in this, dead man. You have no pack, no family to support and protect you. A lone wolf is either very brave, or quite stupid."

Tex responded by gulping down a lump of blood and saliva, gagging to the horrid taste and attempting to stand.

"I...need no support...to kill you."

"Though it would seem quite likely for a wolf to take down a coyote, you forget that my abilities are now more then equally matched to yours. Face it dead man, you need the help of others to survive, while my kind can live on our own. Masters of survival and hardship."

The wolf didn't respond, how could he? He was alone; he had no family to speak of, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins. He didn't even have a mother or father. Wolves have always been a family orientated species, yet once in a great while, they would break away. Such an action would normally lead to death, and Tex began to realize this.

He staggered as he stood up, his left arm sopping wet from pints of blood washing onto it. Pulling off his red scarf and tying it over the hole in his forearm, he pulled off his heavy armored vest and let it crash to the floor.

"You may be a master of survival, Kaiser."

He choked out; his voice sounded hoarse and full of fluid.

"...But wolves are resourceful."

He took off his scarf; it was slipping into his eyes, causing his aim to be poor. He tore off his vest; it was far too heavy for him to carry. Pulling off his fingerless glove with his teeth, he wrapped the leather sizing strap from the glove to the handle of his knife and began swinging it around him. He swung the blade on the leather cord fast enough to cause the fur on his arm to rustle and move. Taking his time, he aimed carefully for the small crack on the front of Kaiser's chest plate and let go of the tethered weapon.

The knife flew quickly as any blaster shot and slammed into the coyote's vest, cracking through it and puncturing his skin. He gasped and choked as he felt the blade tip crack through his sternum and prick the lining of his heart. He opened his mouth to yell, but only the gargling of blood collecting in the bottom of his throat emitted from his mouth. With his last ounce of health, he jumped at Tex and leaned his robotic palm to become flush against the exhausted wolf's chest. Feeling the barrel being pressed against his unprotected chest, a bolt of energy laced through his torso and blasted a gapping hole strait through the wolf's body.

He exhaled as he felt his ribcage bend back from the force of the blast and his insides reduce to ash. He looked down at Kaiser who looked up at him with gritting teeth.

"See you in hell, Hempioro."

He coughed and gurgled.

"You go first, Kaiser."

Tex slammed his fist into the protruding handle that sprouted from the coyote's chest, driving it deeper into his body and Kaiser soon fell to his knees, grasping the wolf's chest until finally falling to the floor. Tex took a few steps back; sucking in air through his lungs and feeling it escape from the large hole in his chest. He was far too numb to realize that he could see through his body clearly to the other side like a knot hole in a wood fence, though much bigger. Tex touched the sore spot on his body and his eyes grew big as he discovered that he could fit his entire fist into the spot on his chest. He crashed to his knees, the entire world slowed to a crawl around him.

He heard his breath, slow and rhythmic. The slow beating of his heart, or what was left of it. Each beat felt like a lifetime apart, but it was there, slowly pumping all that it could to sustain his life. Things began to grow dark, he didn't mind too much. The wolf drew in a gasping breath, feeling no air rush into his lungs and filling his chest.

His ears twitched to a sound, it felt rather out of place considering its joyful nature. The wind rushed against his face, he sat in a field covered in emerald grass and falling leaves from a nearby tree. Was this heaven? No, he immediately tossed away that possibility, no chance he would ever be accepted into the realm of the Goddess. The sky was vast and blue, dotted with cotton clouds and a bright golden sun, he was hallucinating. Air escaped through the hole in his chest, causing him to cough and wheeze like an asthmatic in a dust covered warehouse.

He watched in silence, his mouth agape like a fish out of water. A trail of blood pooled out of his mouth and dotted the grass he knelt upon. Despite how much life he still held in, he already appeared deceased. His eyes grew large and his lower lip quivered as he saw the ghosts of his past. They circled him, ethereal bodies of the past hovered around him and slowly rotated like a carousel.

The ghostly forms of people of his past. His father stood tall beside him, his arms folded as he stared down in disgust.

"Failure..."

His words echoed in his head.

"Murderer..."

The soft voice of his mother held an icy sting and his ears drooped in sorrow.

"Monster..."

The blazing red fox that was Jenna, the love that he lost all those years ago stood in front of him. Her glare could split stone in two. More and more, his friends, his father and mother, even the criminals he hunted and brought to justice all surrounded him in a circle. They laughed, they hissed, they made faces of disgust and shame.

"Tex..."

The wolf gasped as the others parted to make a path for one particular incarnation to step through. He choked and gaged as he drew in another haggard breath. Victoria McCoy, tall and beautiful slowly walked towards the dying wolf, swaying her hips back and forth in a hypnotic rhythm. She stood there, watching the wolf die before her eyes. Her expression was of complete sorrow and despair.

She placed a paw to his face and slowly stroked it, running her fingers through the spiky tufts of hair on his head.

"Vicky...I'm sorry."

Tex whispered in a shaking voice. She knelt down and slowly hugged him, he was shocked to find that it felt so real, though it wasn't really happening.

"Come back to me..."

"Forgive me..."

He fell to the ground like a thick oak tree, crashing through the female wolf's body and onto the soft surface of the grass that wasn't there and letting the sun warm his body as he drifted off, his vision clouding over as he slipped into darkness.

"Failure..."

"Killer..."

"Sucker..."

"Pathetic..."

"Parasite..."

"Dead man..."

"Monster..."

Reality came back into focus after the ringing of the voices ceased. He lay on his stomach; puddles of crimson dotted the floor. His fur was bleached red, cuts and bruises and shattered bone marred his body. Nearby, the limp form of a coyote lay close to him, his cold eyes staring up at the ceiling above him.

He wanted to wake up, he wanted to stand up. He didn't mind dying, not too much he didn't, but that seemed years ago compared to now. He didn't want to go out this way, not when he finally found something to live for, finally had someone who actually gave a damn. That was all he really wanted. Not money, not power, not a dusty photo album that only brought up the wrong kind of memories, not a ceremony to honor him and his legacy, nor even the fame of being one of the most skilled bounty hunters in the entire galaxy.

He wanted someone to hold, someone to hold him back. He wanted someone to lie in bed with, someone to hug and to kiss and to say "I love you" over and over again until his lungs ached for oxygen. That only someone who truly cared for him, that only someone that he was too blind to realize was standing in right in front of him all along, ready to hold him and love him and lift him off his knees when he fell. But he realized this too late, he felt the touch of the greatest emotion in existence far too late. He couldn't die; he wouldn't die, not until he fulfilled his promise to her.

He promised her, and to break it would make him as worthless as a cigarette butt that was grounded into the dirt from under someone's shoe. He had to keep living, just for a bit longer. The echo of his heartbeat ringed in his ears, and then all was silent.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress main chamber, 1:04 a.m. local time

Blood began to flow, coursing through his veins like a river after a fierce rain storm. He could move his fingers, they surged with new life. His tail flicked and twitched as it began to lazily wag back and forth. Fox McCloud opened his eyes slowly, groaning from the side effects he felt from his heat stroke. He glanced down at the curvaceous form of the blue vixen lying next to him, his paw in hers.

He was alive, and with Krystal's chest rising and falling, she was alive as well. He nudged her awake, she stirred and cracked her eyes, revealing her gorgeous turquoise irises. Fox smiled, but the sudden whiff of blood in the air caused his stomach to ice over and an electric chill to run up his spine. Krystal must have caught the scent as well for she quickly bolted up and her telepathic abilities ran wild.

"Blood...what has happened here?"

Her question went unanswered as Fox looked farther down the chamber. His emerald eyes grew large as he saw a grey paw reaching out of the shadows, the dark curved claws were dyed a ruby red as they dripped. He bolted up and ran for the limp body on the floor, stopping dead as he stood over a scene that he thought he would only witness in the deepest nightmares. The large body of Tex, six foot seven and full of muscle lie on his stomach, his paws outstretched as if he were to reach after something before he fell. The vulpine quickly noticed the gapping hole in the lupine's back.

His body was dyed a dark, sickening red. He appeared as a blood drenched hell spawn, his entire body covered in a ruby hue. Fox carefully turned Tex over so he lay on his back and examined his face, it too shown red. The soft patting of Krystal's feet slapping against metal floor echoed through the chamber as she knelt down beside her mate and looked in horror at the macabre scene.

"Oh my Goddess..."

"Is he alive?"

She placed a paw to his damp forehead, emitting a sigh of relief at feeling the presence of his thought patterns. Un-strapping her pack, she pulled out her medical equipment and tried her best to stop the blood flow of his cuts. The hole in his chest was very alarming, but not urgent as the hot blast of energy cauterized the wound. Fox was shocked, but relieved that Tex was still alive, but for how long?

"We have to get him out of here, now!"

Fox lifted the gigantic wolf by his arm and swung it over his shoulder. Krystal helped hoist the two hundred eighty pound wolf onto Fox's shoulders and they both slowly walked from the chamber. The vulpine glanced down at the floor as he saw the body of a cybernetic coyote with a familiar looking blade sticking out of his chest.

"Tex's knife, grab it will you?"

He pointed towards the corpse and Krystal wrenched it out. She had to twist it as the barb near the end of the blade caught on a rib, but she managed to wrench it free. She slid it back into the wolf's leather sheath as she grabbed his trench coat and his leather harness for his blasters. Once they stepped out, he offered the limp wolf to the blue vixen and gestured towards the chamber.

"Go, make it outside and see if you can contact Falco or Slippy for an evac."

"Where are you going?"

"I need to finish the mission, now go and tend to him."

"You better make it back alive, you hear me?"

Fox leaned forward to give her one quick kiss as he ran back into the chamber. Krystal glanced down at Tex as she attempted to lift him again. She grunted and barred her teeth to his weight, but she managed to balance him on her shoulders. Making slow, but steady pace down the hallway, she used the tip of her nose to press a button on her wrist computer and began sending a transmission to the Great Fox.

* * *

Great Fox bridge, Aldun orbit, 9:04 a.m. Corneria standard time

"Enough, you're making a mess!"

Slippy hopped up and down, attempting to grab the spanners that Falco clutched in his feathered hand. The avian was much taller then the toad so he used his size to his advantage as he quickly jerked the tool out of reach from Slippy's high jumps.

"C'mon, I just wanna see what it does; you've got plenty in your tool box anyway."

"I'm not joking feathers for brains, give it back!"

The bird glared at the mention of Fox's insult at Falco's intelligence. Ever since the academy, Fox had used that insult, Slippy seemed to have picked it up and it began to seriously tick off the avian.

"Say that again, short stuff, I dare ya!"

A beeping from the console caused their argument to come to a halt as Falco dropped the toad to the floor when he lifted him by the collar. He clicked on the bright flashing button in front of him and a digital display of Krystal's face appeared on screen.

"Falco, thank Goddess you picked up! We have an emergency!"

"Whoa cool your jets, sweetheart. What's the problem?"

"It's Tex, he's hurt bad. We need an evac now."

"Big guy's hurt, how bad?"

Krystal positioned the camera lens so that it looked up towards the limp Tex that the small vixen cradled on her shoulders. Falco's slanted eyes grew large at the sight of Tex.

"Holy hell, what happened to him?"

"A black ops agent caught him while Fox and I were unconscious. Tex killed him, but it's only a matter of time before he joins him."

"Right, I'm on it."

He switched off the communication and pointed a finger at Slippy.

"Hold down the fort, k buddy?"

Slippy saluted the avian and watched him bolt out of the bridge. He climbed into the cockpit of his Arwing, wiggling down into the cushioned seat as he closed the canopy over his head. The hiss of the cockpit being pressurized echoed in the hanger as the launch sequence was initiated. He had to be launched by one of the projection mechanisms so he could build up enough speed to break through the atmosphere.

"Falco, you there?"

The bird glanced at the screen that appeared on his windshield, Slippy appeared rather troubled.

"What's up, Toad?"

"You're going to need to build up some serious speed. The planetary defense network will make quick work of your ship of you don't make it fast enough to break the planet's barrier."

"But Slip, the hanger systems can only lift me off at only half that speed. I'm gonna get torn up!"

The projected frog placed a webbed finger to his chin in thought. His expression suddenly lit up and he gestured for Falco to look down.

"Under your seat, I've left a little something for you."

The avian glanced under his seat and noticed a small fuel canister. Marked on it was a collection of chemical symbols and an extremely flammable sign. Falco soon realized what it was.

"Damn, Slip, where'd you pick up that beauty?"

"Like it, special brand, modified it myself."

The canister of Nitro methane under the avian's seat, its sleek reflective casing gleamed and beckoned to be activated. Falco was quite familiar with the fuel's properties, he used to use it many times when street racing back in his earlier days. He refocused on Slippy as he began speaking again.

"Alright, when you reach your top speed after launch, activate your fuselage injector system. You'll make it, trust me."

Falco gave the thumbs up as he checked his blaster and pulled on his headset, the small blue tinted screen ejected from the side and came to sit right in front of his right eye. Gripping his control stick, he activated the launch sequence. A mechanical voice rang over the speakers.

"Lift lock released, preparing for launch."

He tilted his head from side to side to pop the bone in his neck and readied for launch. In an instant, he slammed against the cushioned pilot seat and the G-forces from the speed he was flying at caused his beak to curl up into a grin. After reaching his top speed, he flicked a small switch and listened to the hiss of the nitro being injected into his fuel and sparking an explosion in his engine, propelling the fighter forward and causing it to roar. The defense scanners didn't even pick him up; he sliced right through the atmosphere as if it were butter and then extended all his drag flaps and activated the reverse thrusters. His safety restraints nearly strangled him as they tightened against his body, but it prevented him from being flown through the wind shield so he didn't stay too ungrateful for the annoying straps.

Finally slowing down, he touched down on the soft surface of the snow and then sighed as he realized he would have to step out into it. Switching his blaster on, he slid the bridge back and let the spring action shoot it back into place with a loud _click clack_. Preparing himself, he opened the glass canopy and jumped down, his booted feet crunching as he touched snow. He sank down to his knees and trudged through the white sea forward for a few minutes. The blizzard had subsided, giving him the ability to see far with his excellent vision.

He noticed the large building that seemed to sprout directly out of the mound of snow it sat upon and he made his way towards the fortress.

"Cold...I freakin' hate the cold."

His speech was broken as he chattered and shook from the bitter chill. He pulled out his leather flight gloves to cover his feathered hands from the cold, but they weren't built for winter so they proved less then effective. Immediately after jumping down from a mound of snow, a quick blast laced right past his right shoulder and slammed into the wall of snow behind him. He dove for cover as another blast nearly grazed the top of his head. From behind his white wall of powder, he heard voices; they spoke in a language he became all too familiar with.

"You missed!"

"If you think you can do a better job, do it yourself. I'm under a lot of stress lately, or did you forget that Duncan was taken from us only a few days ago?"

"Enough, I'm tired of it, you make it sound like I don't give a damn about him!"

The loud one, his voice was deep and clear, yet raw with emotion. The other was more elegant, a feminine voice, she held a raw edge as well.

"Forget it, I don't want to fight right now, this isn't the place or the time. Get your rifle out, I think I know where he is."

Falco heard the mechanical click of a high-powered rifle being activated and watched a green laser sight dance around above his head. He heard the crunch of boot against snow as the rifleman stood nearly on top of him, Falco wiggled deeper into the snow and made no sound as he looked at the young Husky standing right above him. The avian prayed to all the deities in the known universe, all the divine beings, and the almighty Goddess to prevent the canine from glancing down. As if an answer to his prayer, a small gust of wind carried away his scent as the dog sniffed the air around him and grunted in disappointment.

"I can't find him, he just vanished."

Falco heard the canine step down and returned to the female's side. Falco could tell that the female was of the feline animal family as she spoke, he was always good at discerning felines, Katt could testify to that.

"It's just one person; I doubt he'll cause that much trouble."

"Let's just go, I'm sick of taking bullshit orders. I should have been a mechanic like my old man wanted."

"This whole thing is bullshit in general; the Emperor is sending the economy down the drain. It won't be long until the empire topples over itself and us with it."

Falco listened, intrigued at these two and their opinions of their own faction.

"Corvine, do you ever think we're on the wrong side?"

The Husky turned his head to stare at the lynx and re-shouldered his rifle.

"Everyday, but what can we do, Kris? We already chose, since the day we were born we've been Imperials."

"Hey, you two got some pretty good ideas there!"

Both animals aimed their guns at the talking mound of snow and watched as a blue avian climbed out from it, his hands held above his head and a blaster loosely hanging from his fingers.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna do nothing."

"Toss the weapon, Lylatian!"

Falco did as instructed. He began to ponder if this was such a wise decision.

"Listen, you two are speaking my language. You two want a second chance, yeah?"

The female lynx lowered her rifle and quirked an eyebrow.

"And you could get us that?"

"That I could, sweetheart. Just point that thing in your paws somewhere more friendlily and we'll talk business."

"Don't do it, Kris! Step back, bird!"

Corvine pressed the barrel of his gun to the avian's chest and switched it to full-auto.

"You can't get us out of this, no one can. We're already dead, Lylatian, and you'll be next if you don't surrender yourself."

"Corvine, don't, let's hear him out. If he was hiding all this time, he had the perfect opportunity to kill us both while we were preoccupied. Seeing as we are still alive, I say that's earned him a chance to speak."

"Thanks, beautiful."

Falco cleared his throat and picked up his blaster from the floor, pausing as Corvine tensed up again, but he reluctantly holstered his gun and began speaking.

"You two want out, yeah? Well, how bout joining Corneria, come to the righteous side?"

The two Imperials watched with interest. The Husky shouldered his weapon and coaxed the bird to continue.

"Go on..."

"You see, I'm part of a group of mercenaries that are quite popular amongst our military powers. If anyone can get you to switch your allegiances, it's us."

"So you get us to fight for your system. But what's in it for us? I'm sure your society won't take us in with open arms."

"You'll be free to put it bluntly. You can be that mechanic you always wanted. You two can live safely under the protection of the Cornerian government. You can join the military and actually do some good. All ya gotta do is say you're done with the empire, wadda ya say?"

Falco offered his hand to the Husky who bore a deep frown. He glanced at the lynx next to him and pointed at her.

"Only if she goes, I'm all she has and I'm not leaving her."

Kris smiled as she looked up at the dog and she pulled a small knife from the small sheath strapped to her forearm. She took the knife to the Imperial symbol that was printed on the left side of her coat's chest and she sawed it off.

"I'm done with the empire."

She handed the blade to Corvine and he soon did the same.

"Me too..."

Falco placed his hands on the two animal's shoulders and grinned.

"Welcome to the good side. Now you two wanna help, right?"

The two nodded in unison as Corvine glanced down at the black hand clutching a hammer that sat on the snow and he ground it into oblivion with his boot.

"Well, you two can start by helping me and a few buddies of mine. You see, three of them were sent down here to stop whatever it was you- erm, they were doing down here and one of them is on the verge of dying here. You help me get them out of here alive and I'll put in a good word to the General. Once he hears you guys saved the life of a team Star Fox member, his trust factor in you guys is gonna sky rocket."

The two former Imperials re-locked their rifles and awaited orders from the blue bird.

"Point us in the right direction, sir!"

Corvine stood in attention and awaited his commands. Falco shook his head and wrapped a wing around the Husky's shoulder as he casually leaded him down the slope.

"Man, do you gotta lighten up. You don't take orders from nobody now, you're free. Names Falco, you got a name hot shot?"

"My name is Corporal- Erm, ahem, Michael Corvine. And that is Kristine Lexington."

"K, Mike and Kris, here's your only orders, don't call me sir, you're not military anymore. And shoot anything that points a gun at you, me, and my friends, got it?"

Corvine awkwardly nodded with a nervous grin.

"Ok, got it..."

He fought the impulse to say sir again as he clamped his jaw shut. Lexington followed behind them and slid her knife back into its holster. She came to walk beside Corvine and addressed Falco.

"So, who are your friends?"

The bird glanced at the lynx and pulled out his blaster.

"One's a fox, bout five foot eight, female, oh and she's got blue fur."

Corvine glanced at Falco and raised an eyebrow.

"Blue fur...?"

"Yup, that's Krystal, but watch what you think around her, she can read minds. And the one that got hurt, he's a wolf. He won't be hard to miss. He's about six foot seven inches tall and all muscle, grey fur, and he's got a face like..."

He trailed off, causing the lynx to coax the bird to speaking again.

"A face like what?"

"Ah, you'll know when you see him. There's also another fox, he's our captain. Fox McCloud, but we don't need to worry about him right now; our objective is to just get Krystal and Tex out of here."

The two ex-Imperials looked at each other for a moment. If all Lylatians were like this, they were going to have a hell of a time fitting in.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of the characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Unknown location, unknown time

_It was quiet, no noise, no color, no air to breathe, just the vast expanses of darkness and swirling mist. A noise bellowed out, cutting through the silence and the shadows, it was giddy and full of joy. _

"_Who is there?"_

_There was no answer. It rose and fell; it was the rhythm of laughter. He spoke out again._

"_Who's there? Show yourself."_

_His demands came with no response. From his spot lying on the nonexistent floor, Tex stood tall on his feet and walked towards the laughter. As the wolf continued walking through the veil of mist, the sounds began to change. What was once full of happiness began to turn depressing, causing his pace to quicken. He heard screams, a small child's screams._

"_Run, son, I said run. Can't you hear me? I said run!!"_

_That voice followed by the cries of a small child, it sent shivers down the wolf's spine and made the fur on his neck stand ridged. Farther he ran, bursting through walls of mist, the ethereal tendrils of moisture clinging to his skin and tattered clothing. He finally came to a stop; the veil of mist was cleared from this one location while everything else around it was covered in the fog. A flash of crimson, then a gurgled shout of agony followed by a boy's screams. The sounds changed, the bubbling laughter of a young woman being tickled relentlessly. _

_The sounds were filled with joy as a male voice joined in on the laughter; the masculine voice was deep and shady. It was his voice. The sound of a pair of lips tenderly kissing echoed through the darkness._

"_I love you, Jenna."_

_With the mention of that name, Tex crashed to the floor and dug his claws into the black ground. _

"_I love you too, Tex."_

_The sounds changed again, a woman's agonizing scream followed by two other masculine voices shouting and grunting in pain. Three bodies fall to the floor and a muffled explosion causes more flashes of crimson and the splattering of blood. Footsteps echo down the hallway, then a pair of knees fall to the floor. _

"_I'm sorry."_

_A shaking voice whispers. Deep and full of sorrow, the owner of the voice sucks in air to stifle the tears and the urge to cry out in pain. _

"_This...isn't your fault...promise..."_

"_What promise what?"_

"_Promise me, Tex...Promise me...you'll be...happy..."_

_Air escapes with a hiss. Tex suddenly feels very cold, his inner workings freezing over and his eyes dilating until they shrink to the size of pinholes. He stares at the floor, his mouth agape and tears dripping from his eyes. He shakes like a brittle brown leaf in an autumn breeze. The noises go from sad to violent._

"_No, no more please, GAAHH!!"_

"_For justice..."_

_A deep, hollow voice full of torment and anger echoes through the darkness and cut through the mist, Tex was familiar with this voice._

"_Please, don't kill me please. I have a wife and child, I can't leave my family, please have mercy!!"_

"_You're only wanted dead, sorry."_

_A blaster fires, the searing hot blast shoots through meat and bone with a sickening hiss. Church bells rings and echo through the veil of mist as more people scream and gun fire pierces the air._

"_My son, stop this madness! You have lost yourself to this darkness and you need guidance! Let us help you!"  
_

"_I need no guidance, step aside priest."_

_More blasts and screams. The scene materializes into reality before the wolf's eyes. A black wraith slowly stalks down the walkway of an empty church. Priests storm in front of the gun wielding individual and get gently pushed aside. The wraith fires more hot energy blasts at the man who storms up from behind one of the benches and fires a blast at the tall wolf. _

"_Stop this, heretic! You are in the house of the Goddess and by bringing in such violence you damn yourself, do not dare spill another being's blood in this building!"_

_Instead of staying back, the priest continues to pester the tall wolf by stepping in front of him and pushing him back. The wolf soon gets annoyed and unloads two bullets into the robed lion, shattering both his kneecaps. As the large cat falls to the floor in agony, the wolf steps over the body and continues blowing holes into the walls and painting the church with the splatter of blood and pieces of bone. A thick hickory door slams and latches shut, a panicky whimper can be heard from the other side of the polished wood. _

"_Get the f--k away from me, man! You don't know who you're messing with; I got friends, friends you can't imagine! I got friends in every planet and in every system, you kill me and you're dead, you hear me, dead!"_

"_I'm already dead."_

_The wolf charges forward and slams his left shoulder into the hickory door, shattering the incredibly hard wood into splinters and crashing onto the cowering fugitive. An eardrum rattling crack sounds from the wolf's shoulder and he crashes to his knees. The bounty, a panther with bloodshot yellow eyes climbs back up and limps towards his gun. The wolf is up quickly and he pounces onto the cat. With his left arm useless, the panther grabs his gun as the wolf wrestles with the firearm with his functioning right arm._

_They grappled with the gun in each other's paws, the feline attempting to turn the barrel to point at the lupine's scarred face. The wolf slams his knee into the feline's gut and wraps his right arm around the panther's black furred neck, quickly jerking his forearm and snapping the cat's neck and finally putting an end to his pondering whether he would bring him in alive or dead.. _

"_No more, please, I can't take it any longer!!"_

_Tex slams his fists onto the floor and yells and screams for the entire world to hear. There wasn't a soul nearby to listen to his cries of pain as he witnessed memories from his past that haunted him so passionately. He pounded his fist into the ground until it began to spout blood from his knuckles, shouting and howling as tears fell like rivers from his silver gaze. He couldn't take another moment, he stood up onto his knees and grabbed for one of his blasters, clicking off the safety and placing the barrel to the roof of his mouth. He attempted to pull the trigger, but his finger wouldn't press down._

_He couldn't do it, yet he wanted to so desperately. He wanted the searing hot energy to blast through his skull and put an end his torment, but his finger remained solid as stone. By some unknown power, his paws began to lower and his grip loosened on the gun, causing it to fall and clatter on the floor. His heart raced as he glanced at his right paw and noticed another resting on top of it, slowly tracing his gaze up the wrist and forearm to stare up at the face of the paw's owner. A strong face that had a striking resemblance to his own stared back at him with deep blue eyes and a confident smile. _

_Tex's jaw clamped down so tight that he thought it would pop from his skull at a moments notice as he looked up to face the visage of his deceased father. Mark Hempioro placed a paw on his son's shoulder and lifted him off the floor. He didn't speak or make any noise; he simply lifted his son off the ground and pointed to his left with a big smile on his face. Tex glanced in the direction his father pointed and noticed a dim glow slowly illuminating the area around him. He turned back to the older wolf and nodded his head in understanding, stepping forward to give one last hug and then he walked towards the light. _

* * *

Planet Aldun, inner tundra fortress, 1:13 a.m. local time

Krystal's ears perked as she heard a soft grunt emit from the limp body she hefted on her shoulders. She gently placed Tex down and propped him up against a wall, placing a blue furred paw to his face to check for signs of consciousness. As she probed his mind, his ears fell flat on his head and the small whiskers on his face bent back as he curled up his lips in a mild snarl.

"Tex, are you alright? Open your eyes if you can hear me."

He grunted and slowly opened his hollow gaze, sucking in air through his nostrils and slowly emptying his lungs from his mouth and the gaping hole in his chest. He continued to suck in air at a hurried pace as Krystal examined his wounds, the tips of her fingers began to grow purple as the red blood mixed with her blue fur.

"Are you in pain? I can help you to an extent to at least make you more comfortable."

The wolf simply shook his head from left to right and glanced down at his chest. He swallowed the lump in his throat, grimacing to the rusted taste of blood and bile sliding down his esophagus as he looked over the blue vixen's shoulder. Krystal noticed his irises shift and could see the reflection in his eyes of some foreign person behind her, their thought patterns began to swim in her mind. Swinging around and lunging down the hallway, she grabbed a young Husky by the throat, slamming him against the wall and bringing her pistol to his temple.

"Don't move, or it could be the last thing you'll ever do."

She hissed, her brows coming together in a glare and her ears going flat. The Husky merely smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"So you really do have blue fur. And if what Falco said was true, you could read my mind and know that it wouldn't be a good idea to blast my brains out."

She quirked a brow and reflexively scanned his mind. As quick as a bullet train, she was fully informed of the situation as Falco appeared from one of the hallways accompanied by a female lynx hefting a scoped rifle.

"Hey, Krystal, we heard you needed help. Oh and don't worry about these two, their-

"Their former Imperial arctic troops, I already know, Falco."

The avian brought his hands together and rubbed them, feeling the warmth coming back to his fingers.

"Good, now that we're all up to speed on things, where's big guy?"

Krystal holstered her blaster and hooked a thumb behind her. She guided the other animals towards the wolf who continued to heave as he attempted to retain air in his lungs. Tex glanced up at the crowd of animals that stood before them and gave with a lurching cough. Corvine quickly knelt down and attempted to lift the large animal, grunting as he tried to carry the heavy lupine. Lexington took the wolf's other arm and helped her canine companion lean Tex against the wall and lift him up.

"Be careful with him, he's in serious condition."

Krystal warned the two Imperials. Falco moved to Corvine and took his position of holding up Tex. The wolf grunted at the slight shift as Falco switched with the Husky and he attempted to help by placing both his feet on the floor and tried walking.

"Mike, you cover Krystal, we're gonna need that rifle of yours."

Corvine readied his rifle and placed the stock against his shoulder as he sidestepped down the hallway. Krystal pulled out her pistol and walked in-between Corvine and the group of animals behind her. The Husky glanced at his watch and sighed, he had been awake for nearly twenty hours now. He glanced behind him and quickly whipped his head back to face forward.

"It's going to take awhile at the pace we're going. Hope your buddy's as tough as he looks or he may not get out of here alive."

"He'll make it, hot shot, you just keep moving."

Falco grunted. He glanced up at Tex, his eyelids falling over his eyes and his head was starting to sag lazily on his neck.

"You gotta make it, big guy. You still need to get your freak on with that Vicky girl of yours."

Falco smirked as the lupine seemed to surge to life as red hot anger began to fill his gaze. Though Tex realized that the bird was only trying to help by making him angry enough to shake off the grip of death, it would quickly get on the lupine's nerves.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress main chamber, 1:05 a.m. local time

The orange fox looked up with both puzzlement and shock at what stood before him. In front of him was a large glass capsule filled with some sort of green liquid that swelled with paths of oxygen trapped in bubbles. What caught his attention were not the air bubbles, or the strange colored liquid, but what was submerged in it. Fox walked towards the small screen attached to the glass capsule, placing a finger to the touch screen and looking up information on this "thing".

"Subject number eighty-three..."

He spoke out loud as he read the text that was printed on the screen.

"The first subject to survive the evolution process, subject is a male wolf, two hundred and ten pounds, three ounces before evolution and six feet, two inches tall. Subject had experienced rapid increase in body temperature and rapid growth rate of body mass as all subjects had experienced. Subject began to slip into temperature induced coma and began flat lining after injection of evolution serum. Subject began decreasing in body temperature and stable heart beat was restored as subject's DNA structure began to adapt and absorb the evolution serum, the experiment was a success. Final analysis confirms that subject had grown to twelve feet, seven inches tall and weighted in at approximately nine hundred and seventy three pounds.

Tests have shown that subject has developed an advanced skeletal frame and muscle structure. Further tests show that body is capable of resisting small to medium gun fire and standard controlled explosions. Body is still susceptible to radiation, extremely high temperature and heavy rounds to missile fire. Titan project is now being refined and perfected."

Fox stopped there, clicking off the screen and slowly backing away. He brought a paw to his face and rubbed the area around his eye sockets in disbelief. The Imperials were sick, Fox had seen plenty enough what they were capable of doing to those that opposed them. But never would he believe they would do something like this to their own. Fox checked the vital signs of the "Titan" as it was called; it had a rapid heart rate twice the normal speed of an averaged size wolf.

With such a large body, the heart would have to pump incredible amounts of blood for it to function. With such physical strain on the body, the Titans would probably only have half the life spans of normal animals. The vulpine tapped a claw against the glass for a moment, seeing just how sedated the titan really was. With a heavy heart, he un-slung his backpack and pulled out a few detonation packs and set the time limit. He felt rather guilty at what this as well as the other titans that were located in this room must have gone through to become these monsters, even more so that he would have to destroy them with a timed detonation.

A mechanical hiss caused his ears to twitch and he quickly whipped around to see a surveillance camera zooming in on him. Glaring at the lens, he lifted his right paw and flashed a particular finger at the camera, sticking out his tongue and quickly turning around as he hurried to finish setting up the explosives.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress command center, 1:07 a.m. local time

"I have the surveillance feed back online, sir."

The Imperial leopard checked the systems of each camera as the static filled screens began to be replaced with live video feed. The fortress warden, the stout badger, Rasputin stood beside the feline and watched the screens return.

"Sir!"

The leopard's sudden outburst caused the warden to slightly jump.

"There, on camera four of the main chamber! It's that fox, the mercenary from the reports on Crones!"

The badger watched as the orange fox turned around and gave a vulgar gesture with his right paw. The badger flattened his ears and glared as he panned his gaze back to the leopard. He pointed to the screen, jabbing his finger against the glass.

"Can you access the capsule functions from this room?"

The leopard hesitated for a moment as he tried to discern what the warden was attempting to do.

"Yes...but why do you need me to access the capsule controls?"

"The titans still need an active combat test. I want you to activate the first capsule."

The feline glanced at the screen then back to the badger in disbelief.

"That I need a confirmation from the engineering station before we continue with the program. If we activate it now, we could have complications."

The warden cared very little for the consequences as he pushed the cat aside and punched down on the access control and began typing in the activation code for the main capsule.

"Record it, at one, ten a.m. and ten seconds. The titan program has now been activated."

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress main chamber, 1:07 a.m. local time

A sudden jolt from the capsule above his head caused him to stop. Fox paused and glanced up at the green liquid filled tube and saw that the eyes of the large enhanced wolf were fully open and staring directly at him. The vulpine stood there for a moment, clutching one of the charges in his paw and slowly moved away. The fierce eyes followed him as he slowly tried to sidestep from left to right and check if the beast had seen him. The massive arms uncurled from the large torso and its legs that were pressed against its chest fell as it fully extended all its limbs and slowly opened its mouth.

Uncoiling all its fingers, the claws on the ends seemed to extend longer and it began clawing at the glass, roaring a gurgling shout from the liquid. Torrents of bubbles escaped from its gapping mouth as Fox continued to step back.

"Aw sh-

The glass broke to pieces and the green fluid spilled from the capsule as the large monstrosity leapt from its prison and stood tall on two feet. The first thing that came to the Fox's mind was to run, but the smart part of him kicked in and his feet stood on solid ground. He slowly stepped back as the titan took a giant step forward, the claws on its toes scrapped against the metal floor as it reflexively dug into the ground below it. It shook its head rapidly from left to right as it shook the moisture from its fur and bellowed a deep guttural roar, droplets of saliva spewing out of its maw and into the air. Fox thought quickly as his back was pressed against the wall.

Glancing at the charge in his paws, he threw it towards the beast and sprinted, diving under the titan and sliding through the gap in-between its legs. Pulling out his blaster, the fox shot two rounds into its back, leaving merely a scorched patch of fur and a small smoking area on the beast's back. It appeared unfazed as it roared again and charged, hunching forward and propelling its large body forward by kicking off with its legs as well as its arms. It swung its tree trunk like arm and struck the floor as Fox quickly rolled out of the way, a crater erupting as the titan lifted its arm. The vulpine regrouped quickly as he leaped out of the way of another massive sweep of the titan's arm.

This wasn't working; he couldn't dodge this thing forever. Sooner or later he would slip up or this thing would try a different tactic. Fox began thinking again; his little blaster would prove useless in this situation. He didn't have a grenade with him, and even if he did, it would also fail to damage this thing. He needed a rocket launcher, or a flame thrower. A Landmaster would be pretty nice right about now too.

An idea struck him as another massive arm swept above him as he ducked. Fox ran behind the monster and leapt up to clutch onto the beast's back, digging his fingers into the coarse fur and climbing up to stand on the titan's massive shoulders. Charging up his blaster, he aimed strait down at the beast's head, intended to separate it from the rest of its body. The titan however had other plans. It reached up with its large paw and wrapped its crushing grip around Fox's torso.

Holding the vulpine to his face for a moment, the titan wrapped both paws around the fox and began to squeeze, forcing all the air out of Fox and causing him to squirm and kick until he felt light headed. He took his blaster with his free paw and shot a hole through one of the titan's eyes, causing it to roar and drop the vulpine to the floor. He sucked in air and croaked as he quickly moved from the thrashing beast. He had found a weak area, but even though it could be blinded, it would still thrash around wildly until it killed him in this confined space. The titan reared its head up and stared down at the fox with rage glowing in its one remaining eye, hunching down and preparing to charge.

Fox switched his blaster to its highest setting and held down the trigger to charge the shot. The bright green energy collected and grew at the end of the barrel until the pistol began to shake in the vulpine's paws.

"Ok tough guy, let's see just how resistant to gun fire you really are."

* * *

Planet Aldun, outer perimeter of tundra fortress, 1:32 a.m. local time

The cold air whipped against their faces. Krystal shielded her eyes from the shards of ice that flew around in the torrent of rushing winds, glancing behind her as she shouted and fired more blasts at the armored Imperials chasing after them. Falco and Kris were feet ahead from the blue vixen and the Husky that kept rushing forward into the fire and tore through the ranks of Imperial Black Ops. Corvine reloaded his rifle and jumped out of his cover, quickly depleting his clip and charging into the group of black armored animals, bashing whatever came close to him with the stock of his rifle.

"Corvine, I need you back here!"

The Husky ceased reducing one Imperial's face into pulp with his rifle and regrouped to Krystal's side. The blue vixen took cover while Corvine held off the troops and she began contacting Slippy on the Great Fox.

"Slippy, come in, we're out of the fortress. We are going to need a carrier down here to transport all of us off this planet!"

After a brief pause, Slippy's high-pitched voice emitted from her wrist computer.

"Isn't it just you, Tex and Falco who need an evac? The Arwing should hold the three of you."

"Listen, there isn't time to explain to you in detail but we have two other animals down here that need to get out of here with us. Transmit the carrier down to the planet surface and we'll hitch it to the Arwing. I'm sending you our location."

A blast hissed past her head as Corvine pushed her down below the mound of snow. He reached for his belt for another clip and cursed as his paw grasped thin air. Spitting out curses in Imperial, he tossed his gun at a Black Ops, knocking him unconscious as he pulled out a small pistol from his holster.

"We could use that evac now! I can't hold all of them off!"

"Give me a second!"

Krystal snapped back. Her eyes caught a faint glow as a large metallic container began to materialize out of thin air. Slippy had teleported the carrier to the planet's surface successfully, however the bulky container quickly became taken under fire as Falco and Kris loaded Tex into it. Falco sprang out and sprinted towards where he landed his Arwing, disappearing into the swirling snow fall. Kris took cover and occasionally peeked out of the carrier unit to blast a hole through a Black Ops chest with her rifle.

Tex propped himself up against the wall and took one of his armor plates from his chest plates, using it as a way of seeing behind him as he leaned his paw out of the carrier and blind fired with his blaster. Through the reflection of his metal plate, he could see who he was shooting at as another Imperial dropped to the floor from a shot to the neck. Kris took cover and knelt down beside the injured wolf.

"Save your strength, you're no good to us in your condition. You just sit this one out and we'll get you patched up soon."

Tex sighed and hung his head as he felt a wave of dizziness attack him.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress main chamber, 1:38 a.m. local time

His feet were suspended above the ground twelve feet in the air. Both giant paws of the titan held Fox's arms, pulling slowly as the beast would attempt to either rip out his arms or tear him in half. He yelled as he felt his shoulders being pulled out of their sockets and a sickening crackle caused him to bare his teeth. He looked below him, his feet dangling above the ground and his tail from between his legs. He gasped as he saw what could be his hope of winning, the discarded detonation pack that sat on the floor, just a few inches from the beast's foot.

He had to think fast, glancing at the large fingers that coiled around his arms. Opening his mouth, he sunk his teeth into one of the fingers, cutting through the fur and skin until he felt the rusted taste of blood. The beast withdrew and the vulpine slipped from the titan's crushing grip. He dived for the charge and ran as if the devil himself were after him, ducking as the titan swept his arm at him and it sunk into the ground, shattering the tiled floor. Fox quickly turned around and ran up the large forearm, up to the beast shoulder and jumping onto its back.

The titan thrashed and clawed at its back as it felt the little fox scurry up to the base of its neck. Fox activated the det-pack and bolted it into the beast's neck, leaping from its back as another clawed paw swept after him. He was caught in midair by the large paw and held up to face the titan, its hot breath blasting against his face. He pulled and squirmed as he neared the titan's mouth, seeing his panicked face in the reflection of the gleaming rows of fangs. A subtle beeping began to emit from the beast's back, causing it to pause before chomping off the vulpine's head.

Fox's expression grew confident as the beeping grew louder and the titan realized a little too late what was about to transpire.

"This'll be messy."

Fox took his free paw and covered his face as the beeping stopped and the beast gave out one last grunt. An explosion blew the titan to pieces, causing Fox to fall and land on the floor on his tail. He stood up and saw the smoking remains of the beast that nearly killed him, smiling until a shower of fluid and organic remains rained down upon him. He slowly rubbed the slime from his face and coughed at the smell, his body dripped with red and orange fluid, dampening his hair and the fur that covered his face and neck. The gunk dribbled down his neck and began to trail down his spine, causing him to stiffen up.

"Sick..."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of the characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Planet Aldun, frozen tundra, 1:35 a.m. local time

Shots fired and clanked against the metal hull of the carrier. The female lynx, Kristine Lexington knelt down and assisted the unconscious Tex. Outside of the carrier, Krystal and the Husky, Michael Corvine were pinned down by opposing forces, the beetle black clad Black Ops were flooding out of the fortress, sub machinegun fire chattering and kicking their arms up to their shoulders like jack-hammers. A stray shot caught the canine in the shoulder, tearing a piece of meat and causing him to shout and curse the bastard that plugged him. His rifle was empty and useless as he tossed it at an agent and pulled out his small firearm concealed under his coat's sleeve.

Falco had disappeared a few minutes ago, attempting to retrieve his Arwing to tow the carrier for an evac. Krystal slapped in another blaster clip and gave a ferocious kick with her heel to an opponent that crawled over their wall of cover.

"Is the evac here?!"

Corvine shouted above his pistol's own screams. The blue vixen glanced out of the corner of her eye into the swirling snowfall, no trace of the avian or an Arwing could be seen. A shot whistled past her face, clipping the tip of her azure bangs and causing them to emit a thin trail of smoke. She turned her head, her eyes wide as saucers and she spotted a sniper out in the distance. Krystal leaned back as another shot laced towards her, intent on reducing her head to a red splatter on the snow.

"Kris, we need your eyes!"

Corvine spotted the sniper as well as he took a finger to his ear, speaking into the small transmitter to his companion. The lynx glanced around the wall and dove back as more shots smacked against the walls, leaving small individual dents in the hull. She readied her rifle and quickly jumped out of cover for a short time, taking her shot at a few soldiers before focusing on the sniper. Taking careful aim as well as her opponent, they both depressed the trigger and watched as the hot beam of energy laced out of the barrel's tip. The feline quickly ducked, crashing into the snow as the beam of energy trailed over her head, the Imperial was not as fortunate as he was resting on his belly and had little time to react.

The shot laced through the scope and passed through the sniper's eye socket, escaping out the back of his skull.

"Nice shot, girl!"

Corvine's excited voice came over the line, hearing his voice made her convince herself that she was still alive. Calming her heart rate, Kris responded to the transmission and crawled back into the carrier.

* * *

Planet Aldun, tundra fortress main chamber, 1:35 a.m. local time

The slime was almost off, yet the stench stayed with him. Fox's moist fur matted against his skin, causing him to feel very uncomfortable as the syrupy mess of red and orange slid off his arms and cloths. He wasted little time activating the charges as he heard clawing and gnashing of the other titans inside their glass prisons. The glass barriers that held them were quite thick, but from experiencing first hand their strength, he didn't take any chances they would hold forever. As he activated a charge, a large arm burst from the capsule and reached down to claw at him, the swiping claws nearly cleaved off his head were he standing up a few inches higher.

The last charge was set, the constant beeping echoed through the halls and made his ears twitch as it vibrated off the walls and hit him square in the chest. A titan, a very large raccoon, smashed through its capsule and drew its gaze at the small vulpine. Fox ran back down the chamber, intent on reaching the thick steel doors to seal off the titans from getting to him. An arm swung over him as he reflexively ducked and slid on his knees towards the opening on the end of the chamber. His chest burned from exertion.

He leapt for the door, feeling light as a feather as time seemed to slow to a crawl. The doorway inched closer as he flew in mid-air, only for him to halt in mid jump and feel a pair of large fingers coil around his torso. The raccoon titan had caught him before the fox leapt through the doorway, plucking him away from his exit and holding him up to face the hideous, fang filled visage of the genetic freak of nature. With the force of a head on collision with a speeding sixteen wheeler semi, the raccoon threw Fox's light body into the wall, denting it and feeling as if every bone in his body and back had been shattered. The world spun about him, nothing made sense nor sounded right.

The crushing footfalls of the titan sounded like muffled explosions as they boomed and rattled the floor beneath him. Maybe there were explosions, or maybe he just felt shellshock, he couldn't confirm either thought. He closed his eyes as he felt a large paw coil around him and slowly lifted him up from the cold ground. Feeling the hot breath blast against his face, the vulpine knew that he would soon be decapitated by the raccoon's fangs as they would bite off his head as if he was a stick of gum. A high pitched squeal followed by a bellowing roar caused him to crack open one of his eyes.

He saw the titan thrash its head around violently and the fox's eyes grew big as he saw a person cling onto the beast's neck. The bloodied form of the coyote that was clad in a Black Ops uniform clung to the creature's neck by clawing into the skin and sank the blade of his knife into the beast's hide for something to grip. He crawled up onto the back of the titan's head and violently slashed at the base of its skull, sinking in his wrist blade and blasting holes into the monster with his concealed wrist cannon. Fox was dropped to the floor and was quickly forgotten by the raccoon as it reached behind itself and attempted to tear the pest from his back. The Black Ops crawled down to the titan's neck and slashed it across the throat, a shower of blood and the strange orange liquid poured from its neck.

The beast clutched its leaking throat and emitted a roar until it fell to the floor, blood still squirting from its wound. The coyote leapt off the corpse of his kill and limped a few steps away; blood from the gushing beast's neck began to fall onto him, painting his entire form with deep dark crimson. He licked the edge of his knife to taste his opponent's blood as he was accustomed to doing and he turned around to see Fox McCloud staring at him. His red iris flashed as he focused on the vulpine before he averted his gaze and walked away from the fox.

"Wait!"

Fox threw up his paw towards the coyote and shouted as the blood drenched mammal continued on his way out of the chamber. Fox opened his mouth to shout again but was interrupted by another roar from far behind him. He turned around to see more titans breaking free of their capsules and the vulpine wasted no time. He blasted past the slow moving coyote and out of the chamber, clutching his ribs in pain from his collision with the wall. The Imperial Black Ops walked out of the chamber and casually turned around to operate the door controls.

The steel doors slid out from both sides of the doorway and clamped shut against one another. Fox leaned forward as he rested his paws on his knees and stared down at the floor, grimacing as each lung full of air caused pain to strike at his mid section. His ears perked up as he heard a muffled explosion from the other side of the blast doors, followed by the howls and roars of the giant creatures. The coyote leaned against the wall and slid down until he sat on the floor. Fox watched the coyote who he thought has been dead for quite some time breathe quite calmly, his ears twitching to some unknown clicking and hissing noises.

The Imperial clicked a button on his left cybernetic arm and a small vial of a glowing blue liquid popped out of his forearm. He uncapped the small glass tube and poured the blue gelatinous mixture onto the large wound in his chest. The fox leaned forward a bit closer to see what the coyote was doing and peered into the hole in his chest to see small mechanical devices moving around like thin, nimble fingers around the inside of his body. The small limbs zapped at damaged organic matter, slowly repairing it and closing the wound up in his chest, the blue liquid seemed to help speed up the process as equally tiny machines scurried around like ants and close up the numerous wounds on the coyote's body.

He had heard of extreme medical cases where these devices were implemented, but never had Fox seen them in action. The nano-bots fused tissues together as the gash in his chest began to close, the thin little machines that poked and prodded the coyote's innards fixed the lining of his heart and functioned as a temporary replacement for the damaged organ as it acted as veins and transported stores of blood and nutrients to the coyote's body, keeping him alive.

"He shoved these things into my chest just before I came here."

The coyote spoke a rasping voice, sucking air from the tube that was shoved down his throat. Fox was surprised to see that the Imperial spoke perfect Lylat even without the strange accent that most Imperials carried.

"My liege wanted to make sure he didn't need to see me on the operating table again."

Fox leaned against the wall as he walked towards the sitting coyote. He didn't know what to do, seeing this animal that was his enemy, yet had saved his life. The Imperial was helpless as he was being slowly repaired, the vulpine could easily disrupt the machines keeping him alive and he would die of complications, yet he continued to stand up against the wall and watch. The Imperial continued talking in Lylat.

"Your friend was quite the match, he got lucky on Crones but I fear he won't make it off this planet so lucky."

He chuckled dryly and lurched forward in pain as the repairs caused him to convulse. Fox looked at the burned flesh of the coyote's left side, the rough, melted skin trailed down his neck until it was concealed by his armor and his blood drenched metal arm.

"Tex did this to you, didn't he?"

Fox's question caused the Imperial's only ear to twitch and he responded, drawing in a wheezing breath.

"Yes, we fought in the hallway and a large glob of magma poured right on top of me. I didn't always look this pretty, but I'll be good as new when I get back to HQ."

"Explain."

"Hehe, since I was repaired so quickly so that I could take command of this fortress, the medical center didn't heal everything. But once I get back, those gene therapists will be able to grow me a new ear, a new set of lungs, my throat will be fully repaired, and they even said they would implant new fur for my face and neck."

Fox had one last demand that he ached to get off his chest.

"Tell me why you assisted me when you could have easily let me die, we are enemies after all."

The coyote wheezed and cracked a smile, his red iris glowed bright.

"Simple, I hate the Imperial science division and their experiments. Some of those things used to be some of my highest ranked Black Ops agents and they go and turn them into hulking, dimwitted abominations. I helped you in order to help myself, you owe me nothing and I want to keep it that way. I assume that you must be going; the Emperor's royal guard will be here to check on the situation since he has feeds on every operation throughout this system. With that explosion of yours and the damage of his precious 'titans' I'd say you've got a few minutes to get the hell off this ice ball."

Fox nodded and tried to stand as he turned to leave.

"Lylatian,"

The vulpine glanced over his shoulder as he was addressed by the Imperial.

"Tell Tex that if he lives to see me in battle again that I will be looking forward to it. I haven't had so much fun in years."

Fox's ears flattened and he turned down the hallway to leave. He could hear the echoing laughter of the coyote as he walked down the dark corridor.

* * *

Planet Aldun, frozen tundra, 2:35 a.m. local time

It felt likes years when only minutes ticked by. It had been about an hour or so since Falco had left, Tex's condition was worsening and they were low on ammunition. Krystal and Corvine had taken cover inside of the carrier along with Kris and Tex. She was somewhat thankful Falco had not come yet; Krystal had her eyes peeled for her mate. No sign of him yet as she drew back from a blaster shot that nearly clipped her nose. She had taken the liberty of contacting Slippy to prepare for a medical emergency while he waited for them to arrive.

Since the Great Fox wasn't the most complex of infirmary stations, the toad had contacted a Cornerian medical freighter. The large flying hospital has not arrived yet, but would soon warp through a gate to the Great Fox's destination from a safe distance from Aldun. The blue vixen's heart leaped into her throat as she heard the roar of a ship's engine and she looked skyward. Zooming through the clouded sky was an Arwing, it swung around and slowed down to steadily drift closer to the carrier, a long cable extended from its underside as it latched onto the carrier. Krystal, along with the rest of the crew grew excited as the vessel slowly lifted off the ground and carried them upwards.

The blue fox's heart stopped and realized that Fox wasn't among them. She opened a channel to Falco and shouted over the roar of the engines.

"Fox isn't here! We need to wait, Falco!"

The avian's voice came over the speaker of her wrist gauntlet.

"We don't have time to wait, Krystal. Imperials are crawling out there, they'll rip us apart! We gotta leave now, Fox would understand!"

She didn't want to hear it; she kept the carrier doors open and looked below as more Imperials flooded the area. Falco's scanners showed that the carrier door was still open so he was unable to enter the atmosphere. Seeing as his pestering would prove useless, he boosted across the icy landscape away from the blaster fire from the Imperial arctic troops.

* * *

Planet Aldun, frozen tundra, 2:50 a.m. local time

He burst forth. The snow was thick and bit and nipped at him. Fox crawled out of the mound of snow and made it to the surface of the planet. Since he noticed many Imperial troops heading for the main exit, he decided to take a small detour through the underground passage that lead to the waste disposal system. Clutching his jacket, he trudged through the snow and looked up to see blaster fire streaking the sky from the direction that the fortress was located.

Whatever they were after at the main entrance, they seemed to have spotted it. Fox hugged his torso as his shattered ribs stabbed at him with searing hot pain. He grew dizzy as the cold began to work into his body, slowly shutting down his legs and forcing him to crash from exhaustion. He glanced up with fog filled eyes to see something blast by at incredible speed in the sky. He watched the blob of color and light to quickly perform a U-turn and slowly crawled closer to him, somewhat as if it were attempting to land.

He would have guessed it to be a fighter of some sort, but his mind was too disorientated to clearly discern anything as he crashed into the snow and buried his face into the bitter white powder. A few pairs of arms grabbed him and lifted him up, he touched solid ground but felt as if he was floating up into the sky. Then darkness took him and he passed into unconsciousness.

* * *

Cornerian Medical Freighter, Aldun orbit, 10:05 a.m. Cornerian standard time

"Get him into an ARC!"

Voices came and went; it was hard to focus on them. They came in as whispers, yet with the volume and the tones of the voices it was anything but a whisper.

"His pulse is dwindling, get him on the table!"

"His temperature is dropping, we need to stop the blood flow!"

Where was he? A chilling cold surface came to greet his back as he was lifted up and dropped onto what he thought to be a bed of some sort. He could hear the tearing of fabric and his heart quickened as he felt the cold touch of something sharp inject into his arm. After a short time however, he began to calm down, he began feeling very tired all of a sudden. Why was he so tired all of a sudden?

He had to ask, before he fell asleep, he had to ask.

"Where's Vicky?"

His question went unanswered as his already distorted vision clouded over completely. His head fell against the cold surface he lay on top of, and then he was gone.

* * *

Cornerian Medical Freighter, neutral space zone, 10:45 a.m. Cornerian standard time

"Ow! Hey, easy, easy,"

Fox winced as a doctor continued to gently wrap around his torso. Krystal, standing near the bed that her mate was sitting on, watched in slight amusement to his stubbornness of hospital staff.

"It's just a few- OW! - Just a few broken ribs! I don't see why you're not helping – AH! – helping Tex when he needs more care then I do!"

"Mr. McCloud, please control yourself. You are very lucky that it wasn't as serious as it is, but if we continue to neglect this little pain for your own gain, we could have other complications. We have some of our best doctors working on Mr. Hempioro as of right now, but your attitude isn't helping."

"Relax – Ow! – I don't even have flail chest yet, I've had worse injuries then this."

Krystal placed a paw on the loud vulpine's shoulder to calm him as the doctor continued. She knelt down to rest her chin on his shoulder, leaning her head against his.

"Just relax, Fox, he's only doing his job. Repairing ribs are a tricky business, and we don't need you making it harder for him."

"Thank you, miss. You could learn a thing or two from your better half, Mr. McCloud."

Fox balked, following another yelp of pain. Krystal merely giggled and watched as she stroked the back of her mate's head.

"What, we're not, well that is not yet, what I'm saying is. Ahem, alright, hurry up so you can go and help Tex!"

"Mr. McCloud, I don't really know what to tell you but Mr. Hempioro is slipping. We aren't sure for how long he will be alive for, the doctor's estimate that it will be a few hours. We're doing all we can but you need to understand that he is lucky enough to be alive as of right now."

Both Fox and Krystal drew quiet. The blue vixen could feel the sorrow from her mate and the doctor as the words in their heads swam inside of hers as well.

"You're telling me...he's not going to make it?"

Fox was stiff as he burned holes into the doctor with his stare. The doctor slowly shook his head and sighed.

"We did all we can. His pulse rate is slowing down as time passes. The doctors have told us that he has about two hours...I'm sorry."

The doctor finished up wrapping the bandages around Fox's torso and walked out of the hospital room. The two foxes sat on the bed, a paw in each others. Krystal could sense what Fox was already about to say.

"I don't know how we're going to tell Vicky, love. I sensed that she was very attached to him those few weeks they spent together. Should we contact her?"

Fox slowly nodded.

"We have to, Krystal. It's better then if she were to find out another way."

He sighed and stood up.

"I'll do it; it's my responsibility since he was a member of my team, even temporary."

* * *

Cornerian Medical Freighter, neutral space zone, 10:45 a.m. Cornerian standard time

Michael Corvine and Kristine Lexington both sat on a small bench that jutted out of the side of the wall of their small padded cell. The dim glow of the energy beam walls that enclosed them inside of the prison hummed an annoying and continuous hum that drove their ears to twitch like crazy. Corvine sat forward, staring at the cushioned wall for what must have been thirty solid minutes of complete silence. Kris had taken to staring at the soft, padded floor since they were thrown in here, patiently waiting for the Star Fox team to help them get out of here. For the first time since they got here, Corvine moved and placed a paw atop of Kris's own spotted paw.

"It'll be ok. Just think what the Imperials would have done if they caught us. They would do more then throw us in a-

A finger was placed against his lips, causing him to stop. His ears drew flat as he saw the sad look gleaming in his friend's eyes.

"I don't want to think about it right now, Corvine. I understand why Corneria is doing this, their citizens don't even know of the conflict with Lylat and...them."

She was about to say "us" but she had to get used to the idea that they had forsaken their allegiances for their former enemy. She drew in a deep breath and pulled away her finger from his lips.

"They want us in here for good reason so we don't cause trouble for everyone, not just their military; we are an enemy of the state after all. The Star Fox team will tell them, they will help us get out of here."

"You trust them?"

The Husky's brows drew together to appear stern and serious. The lynx nodded and moved closer to Corvine on the bench.

"I do, more so then the Imperials. I feel safe here; I know we will make a good life as Lylatians, and...I'm just happy you're with me."

Corvine smiled as Kris touched the side of his face with a soft paw. She leaned closer to his face and planted a soft kiss on his lips. The canine stiffened for a moment before melting into it and wrapping his arms around the spotted feline. Kris pulled on Corvine's head to deepen the kiss and turn this act of passion into something more intense and fiery as the Husky slowly laid her body down on the padded floor of their cell. Glancing to his right to see if there were any guards stationed near, he grinned and returned his attention to the lynx he lay on top of.

Kris smiled and closed her eyes as she felt Corvine assault her neck with kisses and gentle nips and nibbles. She clutched the zipper on his uniform and slowly pulled down, exposing his chest as her paws began to explore. She felt his beating heart against her palms and they melted into another kiss.

* * *

Cornerian Medical Freighter, neutral space zone, 1:35 p.m. Cornerian standard time

Water pushed against his body, swayed between his legs, and massaged every muscle as he felt the soft, tickling trails of oxygen bubbles bump against his fur and skin as they floated upward. Tex could not see, his eyelids were closed, yet he could feel the water on the other side of them as they pushed and begged to gain access to his eyes with the slightest opening to them. Something was wrong here; he was on the carrier on his way back to the Great Fox wasn't he? He had a hole the size of his fist in his chest, didn't he? Why in blazes would he be swimming at a time like this?

Then he realized, he wasn't swimming, he was standing, his body fully submerged in water. He wiggled his toes and felt the tips of his clawed feet scrape against floor that didn't feel anything like sand under his feet. He wasn't in any ocean or lake, and he didn't smell any chlorine in the water so he wasn't in a pool. Wait a minute, how could he even smell if he was underwater in the first place? If he were to inhale a scent while in the water, his nose would fill up like a water balloon under a sink faucet.

He opened his eyes in realization that he was breathing, the clear water rushed into his irises as he revealed them. The wolf looked down at his muzzle to see a small breathing apparatus attached to his mouth and nose, trickles of bubbles escaped with every exhale through the small vents on each side. He glanced around, looking down to see that he was completely naked, yet his body was covered in all manner of objects. Coarse stitches dotted his arms and thighs, waterproofed bandages wrapped around his limbs and neck as patches of gauze were taped to his side. What caught his attention most however were the mechanical devices that appeared out of small panels in the walls of this egg shaped chamber that was full of water, the small lights above him were dimmed, giving the water that deep ocean look to it.

The slender cybernetic arms came to just a few inches of his skin as they began twirling their small, finger like appendages against his skin and fur. He lifted up his forearm and the small mechanical arm extended and followed the wolf's arm as it continued to twirl its fingers around the deep stab wound in the middle of his forearm. Tex watched as he saw the small pieces of tissue inside of the stab mark slowly move around and stretch as it began to connect to itself and close the wound. It looked rather disgusting to see the walls of muscle tissue and veins and joints move around inside his arm and slowly connect themselves as it began to repair, but he was able to regain his control to move his fingers and clench his fist. The pain in his chest, as well as feeling the water currents pass through his hole as if it were an underwater tunnel of meat and bone began to dissipate.

Tex was being slowly repaired, looking lowly and ragged as a piece of tissue paper through a wood chipper. Occasionally the arms would have to detach from his arm or chest and re-stitch an opening in one of his wounds, small tendrils of crimson would pour out of his arms as the blood escaped the cuts and floated around, mixing in with the water. The filtering system prevented the water from turning red with so much blood flow, but Tex was beginning to lose a lot very fast. The strain the mechanical arms put on his body were causing friction on the stitches, making them loosen up and slip out as a wound would be ripped open again. Another hiss caught Tex's attention and he gurgled out another torrent of bubbles.

A panel opened in the wall of his egg shaped chamber and he saw another mechanical arm retract out, a thin needle and syringe was clutched in its metallic fingers. The other two arms clamped down on his shoulders so he would be still and the needle plunged into his neck. Tex yelled out, but it was muffled to a loud gurgle as a storm of bubbles bellowed out of his breathing mask's air vents. The arms let him go and he clutched at his neck, feeling the itch and burn of the needle. He scratched at his neck nervously, and then his arms felt heavy as lead and he fought to sustain consciousness.

The wolf's head sagged forward, heavy as a bowling ball supported by a tooth pick of a neck. He closed his eyes and felt his skin crawl as the cold fingers of the machines continued to poke and prod him, wiggling on his skin and crawling across it like an insect. He felt sick; he wanted to vomit so he could get the rotten feeling that was bubbling up in his stomach out of his system. A headache began to develop and his eye sockets began to ache, every twitch of his iris, every blink, every focusing and refocusing of his pupil made the bones that made up his eye sockets feel like a sledge hammer bashed against them.

Tex couldn't fight it any longer. He was resistant to tranquillizers rather well because of the size of his body and endurance level, but this was something else entirely as it crawled through his veins and poisoned his blood. His vision grew dark along with the blood in his veins, and then he fell limp as a rag doll.

* * *

_Author's note: You were all probably expecting another chapter to be added to my Sly Cooper story. That was my initial plan of action, add a chapter to this story then one to my other story and so on a so forth. BUT, since I have a bad case of writers block for my Sly Cooper story at the moment, and because I've been having so much fun with this storyline, I thought I would spit out another chapter. Don't worry though, I have started on the next chapter for Sly Cooper, It's just that...well...its hard for me to say this but, ahem here it goes...I DON'T HAVE ANY CLUE WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT!! I know, I know "WHY, TEX, WHY? I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU HAD A SOLID PLOT LINE FOR THAT STORY!" Not in the face, not in the face!! Ahem, anyway, while I'm busy smacking myself around in hopes that any idea at all will pop into my head, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and hope that it entertained you even for just a moment. R&R and thanks for understanding that I have a block of wood for a brain._

-Tex


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of the characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Cornerian Medical Freighter, neutral space zone, 4:32 a.m. Cornerian standard time

Darkness, it was almost beginning to become annoying how often he was consumed in it. Physically or spiritually he was always in darkness, it spread across him like thick, sticky black tar, clinging to whatever it reached and it was unable to let go. Life surged in his finger tips, carrying an electric tingle up the palms of his paws and flowing up his arms to tingle in his shoulders. He twitched a violent twitch to a slight shock, much like when one dreams they twitch as they witness themselves being hit by a physical blow in their dream state. Like a ceiling fan being clicked on, life slowly began to work and rotate as his heart thumped and the blood ran through his veins.

His lungs expanded and shrunk to the rhythm of his breathing, his chest rising and falling slowly as the clean crisp oxygen ran up his nostrils and glided down his throat. Did he just get saved from death? If so it didn't feel like anything he imagined it would be. He thought when he died, he would instantly plummet towards the fiery pits of hell where he belonged and waited and watched as demons and other unholy creatures would poke and prod him with tridents and spears and cackle and mock him and how he damned his soul.

"_You brought this on yourself."_

He always imagined that those words would be the first things the devil himself would spit at him when he finally arrived. But no, death felt more like someone sneaking up behind you and covering your eyes, yet there was no one around to say "guess who". But now he was alive, or maybe he wasn't, he couldn't make a logical guess of either choice if it would save his life, which is to say if his life was still around to be saved.

"Tex..."

He didn't know if his ears twitched to the sound of the voice or not, but he could hear it. As clear as a morning sunset he could hear it. It was a voice, a beautiful voice, an angel's voice? No, no that's stupid, to think he would be accepted into the realm of the Goddess, you stupid sack of flesh and bones and scars. But if it wasn't an angle's voice, then what was it?

No mortal creature possessed a voice like that, and then a thought came to his mind as he regained the ability to think. It was a voice of this world, the voice of a woman, the kind of woman that could make your dreams come true with as little as a simple touch of their lips or the feel of their skin, there were such women out there, yet only the luckiest and most deserving could ever hope to be in their presence. Why would a female of that caliber be addressing him? Women who had even half of what this kind possessed would have ran for the hills at the sight of him.

"Tex...Wake up, Tex..."

Wake up? Was he asleep? He couldn't tell since he didn't even know he was alive. Maybe this was it; maybe this was the hell he spent his life earning for himself, consumed in darkness feeling alive yet always wondering if he was as he heard the echoing voice of an angel calling his name. There wasn't anything worse in life or the afterlife then a man to wonder for eternity why and if he even existed in the first place.

"Please...wake up, Tex...Please wake up..."

The woman who spoke seemed to be choking down sobs as she hurriedly sucked in air in gulps and hiccups. He couldn't open his eyes, or maybe his eyes were fully open, he had no reason of knowing either way. Water fluttered through the fur that covered the unscarred areas of his body and life and energy slowly coursed through his veins. His fingers coiled up into a fist and he felt his sharp jagged claws dig into his palms, the veins in his arms rising up to the surface of his skin. The muscles in his neck twitched and stiffened as they contracted and tightened to the sharp pain that began to grow in his chest.

He slowly cracked open his right eye, his left one seemed to be unresponsive as it remained shut. The water poured into his eye as he winced, focusing on his blurry surroundings. The egg shaped capsule was full of water, the floor beneath his feet felt much like the ground of a swimming pool, slightly rough concrete against the pads of your feet so you can grip onto it with ease. The walls came up in a slope as it would appear if you were inside of an egg, small light bulbs were above his head to provide illumination when desired. The window in front of him was oval shaped, large enough for him to see a silhouette from the waist up.

He wasn't sure why, but he confirmed the person on the other side of the glass to be female. Slowly he stepped forward, his limbs feeling like boneless piles of meat and muscle, the strength in his arms and legs were all but exasperated and the burning in his chest intensified. His left arm was useless; he looked down to notice that it was wrapped in some sort of transparent sleeve that ran up from his wrist to where the shoulder met with the arm. His torso was also wrapped in the strange material, the light blue tinted wrapping expanded and stretched along with his heaving chest. As he made it in proximity of the window, he placed his only functioning paw against the wall to lean up against as he peered out of the tinted glass.

He studied the dark outline of the female, pointed ears rose up from her head, short bangs hung right above her eyes as they swayed with every movement. He saw through the tint, straining to open his left eye yet it remained shut as hot agony shot into the bones that made up his left eye socket. The tint seemed to dissipate as it faded from the glass for him to get a clear view of his visitor. His chest ceased heaving and his eye grew large, even his left eye cracked open just the slightest in disbelief. Could it be?

Was it even possible? He saw, he could see it, the sweet wonderful sight of his mother, her loving smile and bright silver eyes that seemed to glow. No, she was dead, wasn't she? This wasn't possible; it had to be a dream, or perhaps a nightmare.

"Tex..."

The voice made him tilt his head. That wasn't her voice, it was sweet and full of love and affection yes, but it didn't fit with his memory of the sound of his mother's voice. He shook his head and blinked his eyes as he saw his mother's features morph before his eyes. Instead of brilliant white fur, it began to slowly grey and change. The facial features stayed relatively the same aside from appearing younger, only the fur color and hair really changed. His eyes continued to blink until the shift was complete, causing his eyebrows to rise as he saw the finished product.

"You're awake..."

The grey and white face of Victoria stood before him; she was clad in a deep purple t-shirt and a grey and black windbreaker. She placed a milky white paw to the glass as if to touch his face, yet she only came to about an inch away as the glass stopped her from reaching out further. She looked into the male wolf's eyes, it nearly broke her heart. The left eye was swollen shut from a broken eye socket while his right was only half open; the iris looked empty and dead. Despite the bright color of his eye, it looked dull and listless, much like the look of a scared little orphan child.

Tex was broken, not just body, but spirit as well. He was very glad to see Vicky, yet he just seemed to not feel that light as a feather feeling that bubbled up in his chest whenever she was near. Her paw pressed hard against the thick glass, trying to get closer to him but failing as the pressure against her paw caused her to ease up on her palm.

"Why do you do these things to yourself?"

She lightly shook her head, her irises staying glued to his poor, pathetic and broken face. She couldn't take it any longer, the tears bubbled up to the surface and she leaned her forehead against the glass as she cried and gasped for breath. Tex leaned down to place his own forehead against the glass where Vicky's was positioned, looking as if they leaned against each other. She slowly looked up, keeping her head against the glass to see Tex's eye looking into hers. His palm pressed against the glass atop of her own as he positioned his fingers to mirror her own.

She lightly smiled as she gasped and emitted a soft laugh before jerking with each gasp for air to stifle the tears. Her eyes grew wide as Tex pulled back from the glass and placed a paw over the mask that covered his muzzle. She watched the wolf pull off his mask, a large glob of bubbles escaped as he detached it from his mouth. Leaning back to the glass, he placed his nose against it; the black tip was in close proximity to Vicky's own coal black nose. Seeing as this was about as close as they could get for now, the female wolf placed her lips against the glass, feeling the icy chill transfer into her lips.

Tex placed his lips against the glass atop of where Vicky's own were placed. She quickly pulled away, leaving a small print of her lips on the glass. Tex placed the breathing mask back on his muzzle and brushed the tips of his fingers against the lip print on the glass window. Vicky wiped the tears from her eyes and lightly smiled as she looked up at the renewed face of the man she secretly adored. He looked back down at her small form and slowly blinked, his eyes filled with just a hint of admiration that was lost in a sea of hate and sadness.

* * *

Cornerian Medical Freighter, neutral space zone, 4:54 a.m. Cornerian standard time

His ears perked up as he scanned for any noises. Seeing as he hadn't picked up anything, Fox McCloud slowly pulled the white sheets away from his body and stood up from the hospital bed, his bare feet slapping against the tiled floor.

"Going somewhere?"

He stopped and the fur that trailed up his spine tingled and stood on end. He slowly turned around to see Krystal lying on her side resting her head against a blue fist. The vixen may have not heard the fox get up, but she could certainly sense his thoughts of getting up.

"You should be resting you know, cracked ribs aren't considered a minor injury."

"Krystal,"

The orange vulpine sighed and dropped his arms to his sides.

"I just want to see how Tex is doing, it's been nearly a week and the doctors haven't told us a single thing. They let Vicky in, why can't we go and see him too?"

"You need to remember something, Fox,"

She sat up and walked over to place a paw on his bare shoulder.

"This is a military medical institution. We are mercenaries, hired guns, while Vicky is an exceptionally high ranking agent of the Cornerian government. She's permitted into about every room there is on this place. We're merely patients here, Fox; it took a lot of negotiations for me to even stay here with you until you got better."

"I'm just worried about him. He was able to pull through, but I snuck a peek at his charts...and it wasn't very promising."

Krystal needed no explanation for she already understood after peering into her mate's mind.

"So his chest is permanently damaged?"

Fox slowly nodded his head with a somber expression.

"He will never fully recover, all we can do is hope he isn't paralyzed. When they were operating on him, they found a few things on him. His left shoulder was pretty torn up; the bones were crooked and mangled because they healed wrong. They were able to fix that so he shouldn't feel so much pain in it, I noticed that he tends to rub it from time to time. Also, the metal plate in his head was slightly dented and added unnecessary pressure. They replaced it with a fresh one and reinforced it so it won't dent again."

He glanced back to the door of their room and then back to the blue and white face of his mate. Krystal sighed and nudged the orange vulpine towards the door.

"Go on, I know you really want to see him. I won't stop you, but you can't stop me from coming with you, I'm worried about him too."

"Fair enough, umm...ladies first."

He gestured for the door to let Krystal leave first, he was nervous of getting caught, those nurses moved quieter then Black Ops agents. Lightly stepping on the cold floor, the two foxes padded down the hallway towards the instillation that held the severely injured patients, most of the staff were asleep at this time as Krystal's telepathy only picked up minor thought patterns. A certain collection of thought waves caused her to freeze and focus her powers on that one group of telepathic wave links.

"There, it should be down here."

She whispered and pointed to her right as they passed three more doors and came to a halt in front of one that was specially marked.

"ARC...what is an ARC?"

Krystal tiled her head in puzzlement as she watched Fox press a few buttons on the control panel, causing the door to slide open.

"It stands for aquatic repair chamber, it's designed to-

"Designed to rapidly repair severely injured patients, the chamber is filled with water to clean and sooth the patient's body while the medical devices repair the patient while they are submerged, amazing."

To most, the Cerenian's ability to know it all in a matter of a second would be quite annoying; Fox however became used to it. He was rather glad for her abilities; it saved time on lengthy explanations, especially when he began introducing her to the Lylat system and Corneria. She had so many questions belonging to a primitive race, yet with her abilities she began to learn very quickly without him even having to answer half of her questions.

"Tex is inside the ARC, I can also sense Vicky. She's asleep right now along with Tex; we can check his vital signs and then go back to bed."

"Fair enough, is there anyone else nearby?"

The blue vixen shook her head, stepping into the darkened room. The sound of bubbling water caught their ear's attention as well as the soft, rhythmic breathing of the sleeping wolf that lay in a hospital bed. Krystal lightly stepped over to the sleeping Victoria and slowly pulled the blankets that draped over the side of the mattress up to her shoulders. She turned back to see Fox staring up at the beaten and battered body of Tex Hempioro, his eyes were closed and he seemed to appear relatively peaceful. The vulpine checked the status of the chamber, the water was an astonishing seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit, and the wolf however looked relatively at ease despite the hot water.

Jets of bubbles ran up and down his body to sooth and massage his muscles to help him sleep. Fox continued to look at the unconscious face of the large wolf, his ears drooping at the sight of him. His left eye was slightly swollen and blackened, a few of those liquid stitching covered a long curved cut that sat under his right eye on his cheek. His torso was wrapped in the waterproof elastic bandages as well as his left arm. His entire body was covered with small strips of bandages and gauze, while his forehead where his metal plate was replaced looked to be bruising as it turned a deep purple and black color as the exposed scar tissue that was devoid of fur allowed the vulpine to see the skin under his fur.

He sighed and looked back down at the screen that showed the waving lines of his heart beat and pulse rate. It looked normal, his body temperature was rather high due to the water but everything else seemed alright. He glanced at his shoulder as he felt Krystal place a paw on it, offering him a clip board with one of her blue paws. Texts, as well as a few pictures of the surgery were clipped to the board as Fox read through it. He had to look away from a few of the pictures of Tex as they were far too graphic even for his eyes.

Naturally, the focus of the clip boards were of his chest since it was the most serious of his wounds. They were able to reconstruct his ribcage and close up the hole in his back and "fill it back up" as they stated. If the blast were any higher he would have had no chance of survival, fortunately none of his major organs were too damaged.

"Guess he doesn't joke around when he says he's stubborn. I bet he'd survive an atom bomb blast if his mind was focused on an objective."

Fix chuckled to make light of the situation. It was proving difficult as he glanced back up at the tattered wolf's body.

"He was worried that he would break his promise to Vicky. I heard it in his thoughts when we were evacuating him from the planet. He wanted to make sure he would see her again so he tried to stay focused on that to stay alive long enough."

"I heard you helped patch him up on the surface, we all owe you thanks, Krys-

"I helped, but Miss Lexington was the one who kept him alive long enough to get him here. You should thank her."

Fox placed the clipboard onto the desk and slowly stepped out of the room along with his mate.

"We should thank them, from what you told me, they helped quite a bit."

"Couldn't have gotten off the planet without them, Corvine is an amazing fighter, I've never seen anyone fight with such fury and resourcefulness save for Tex."

"You've seen Tex fight?"

She shook her head.

"Not physically, but I was able to see the battle he fought with that Black Ops agent back on Aldun through his mind. He was incredible; I've never seen anything like it."

Fox grew quiet, he thought about the agent for only a second as he tried to hide the thoughts from Krystal. For now they didn't need to know that Tex sacrificed himself for nothing, hopefully Tex will meet him in combat again and be victorious, a man can only pray though.

"We should go; hopefully it won't be much longer until he can finally come out."

* * *

Imperial Capital planet, Imperial Palace, 2:04 a.m. local time

Dark rain smacks against smooth glass as it slides down the surface. The sky blotted out by grey and black clouds of eternal darkness that spat out continuous streams of acidic black rain. The streets were cleared from all life, and wouldn't they be? No one in their right mind would walk out in this weather; the rain would melt away all the fur on your body if you allowed it to soak down to the roots. The robed figure sat and watched, his rotating throne swung back to stare out the window.

The face was enveloped in shadow; a hint of gleaming fangs could be seen as the hooded figure would curl up their lips occasionally in their mute grumbling. He rotated the chair back to face the entrance door into his chamber and heard a soft click from the other side. He pressed a button on the armrest and the door swung open. A coyote stepped forward, his right cybernetic leg clicking against the floor whenever his metal foot slapped on the surface. His fur was lush and healthy; the tan color seemed to give off a healthy golden glow.

"Lord..."

He spoke as he bowed low, his voice smooth as syrup as he spoke eloquently. Both of the coyote's ears flicked as he heard the rustling of fabric and the tall hooded figure stepped down from his throne, the long cloak trailing behind him.

"Ah, commander Kaiser, I see that my therapists have concluded your repairs."

"They have, my Emperor."

He pointed to his newly grown ear and ran his natural fingers through the soft, thick fur that covered the left side of his face. His robotic eye had changed from its previous model; the small segments that clipped to the skin of his eye socket were gone and instead replaced with a metallic orb that bore a glowing blue iris. His smiled in delight, showing all of his perfect, gleaming teeth. Thomas Kaiser, the finished product had his heavily damaged face restored to its original hansom image of masculinity. He wore his beetle black armored vest, the sleeveless garment allowed him to show off the toned muscles in his natural arm, while his metallic left arm was completely exposed from the metal shoulder all the way down to the metal fingertips.

His lungs were restored, leaving him to breathe without complication or wheezing. His mangled stump of a left ear was cut off and replaced by a new one being grown from gene therapy. Aside from his left arm, right leg, and left eye he was the picture of renewed health.

"My body feels perfected, the pain is no longer with me and I feel as fit to destroy an entire army of titans with my bare paws."

He lightly smirked at the remembrance of actually killing one titan. All the scar tissue, even the ones before his repairs were completely gone as any damaged limb or organ was removed and grown anew.

"I'm glad you are feeling ready,"

The hooded head slowly nodded as the deep voiced shade stepped down and stood in front of the window to gaze down at the city. The rain had dissipated and soon citizens were buzzing around in their vehicles and walking the streets.

"Look at them, commander. Every one of them different, thinking different thoughts, feeling different things."

"Is this what you wanted to show me, lord?"

"No, it is not,"

The hooded figure turned back and folded his paws behind his back. Stepping along the window's paths, he continued to stare down at the glossy streets as citizens wore small masks over their muzzles to ward off the chemical fumes and the extreme rate of contracting disease from the large populations.

"I contacted you here for another reason. There...has been a change..."

"A change, my lord?"

"Yes, commander, a change."

Kaiser came to step beside the cloaked Emperor and listened as he continued walking.

"You are my trusted soldier, no one else in this division do I trust more then you. Your family has served me well over the ages as the Emperors before me have been blessed with your ancestor's assistance. But something has arisen."

Kaiser remained quiet as he listened intently.

"You recall that we have your mother in our care, attempting to revive her and keep her health stable while she has been poisoned by the plague?"

The coyote slowly nodded, recalling a picture in his mind of his sickly mother lying in the white hospital bed, tubes running through her as she slowly breathed.

"I...I do, yes. But why do you tell me this, my lord?"

The Emperor stood as he dug his feet into the soft carpet of his chamber. The sudden halt caused Kaiser to awkwardly step forward a few more paces and he glanced behind himself.

"Your mother's condition has...not improved over the years, I'm afraid. We had no choice but to disconnect her from her life support systems."

Kaiser's blue iris shifted to a bright yellowish orange as his eyes grew wide.

"My...my mother?"

"Yes, commander, she is passing into the next life. My doctors tell me she has only a few hours of life left."

"You...you shut her off from the machines keeping her alive?!"

He shouted as his iris shifted to a glowing red. He extended his wrist blade and jumped towards the Emperor, intent on plunging the gleaming blade into his neck.

"You son of a bitch, you killed my mother!"

A paw flew from the folds of the robes and clutched Kaiser by the neck, hoisting him up into the air and began to close around the throat.

"Your anger is in need of check, commander. She was to die in a matter of weeks anyway; the machines weren't keeping her alive they were simply making her die slower. You should not let your dear mother go through such torment; such a sweet woman she was, she should never deserve what she had to go through. The radiation, the surgery, the chemical therapy, let her rest in piece now."

He tossed the light coyote into the window, the small canine bouncing off the glass and landing in a bundle on the floor. He clutched his neck and croaked as he sucked in air, glancing up at the cruel hearted monster that ordered the death of his mother. The Emperor pointed for the door.

"Go; be with her in her last hours. Give her some comfort as she passes from this world."

Kaiser growled as he rushed out the door, tears beginning to develop in his eyes. His foot clicked against the floor as he sprinted out of the palace and ran for the hospital down the sidewalk. Under the hood, the Emperor's bright fangs shown through the darkness in a smile as he watched the animal sprint down the sidewalk, pushing and shoving through mobs of citizens.

"Consider your debt paid, Thomas Kaiser."

* * *

Imperial Capital planet, Imperialist Hospital, 4:52 a.m. local time

"Let me through!"

Kaiser slammed past a group of doctors and nurses as he shoved through hallways towards his destination. When he did finally reach his destination, his pace slowed to a crawl, his chest heaving with adrenaline. Slowly he reached for the door knob, hesitating at first, until turning it and pushing forward to enter the white room. Kaiser's eyes drew towards the form that lay on the bed, the white sheets covering the female's body up to her shoulders.

"Mother..."

The female's ears flickered weakly as she heard Kaiser address her. The male coyote stood at the bedside and knelt down to better face his mother's weak, yet somewhat healthy and peaceful expression. She slowly opened her golden eyes and tilted her head towards her son. She smiled and opened her mouth to speak.

"Tommy..."

She slowly raised a paw to brush the side of his face, running her fingers through his soft, newly restored fur. She had not known of his injuries and it was best that she didn't.

"You look so hansom; you look so much like your father, how are you, my little angel?"

"Mother..."

He sucked in breath as his voice stifled, small tears dripped from his eyes off of his cheeks. He clutched his mother's soft, cold paw and tenderly rubbed it in his palm.

"I'm so sorry...I couldn't save you, mom...I'm so sorry."

"Oh tisk tosh, you bite your tongue. You did everything that I ever wanted from you and more, sweetheart. You stayed with me at home to try and help me get better. You're even here now, darling that's all I wanted, I just want to see you."

Her fingers weakly coiled around his paw as he continued to hold her paw.

"You make me so proud, Tommy. You always have, you are such a smart boy, oh dear excuse me; you are a smart man now. Forgive your dear old mother, I still think of you as my little boy."

"Mom...please don't go...I can save you, I know I can! You and dad made me strong, I can be strong for both of us; you just need to-

"Tommy, please. It's alright, baby. I'll still be with you, right here."

She moved her paw to touch his chest where his heart was located. He grabbed for her paw again, much like when he was a child he would always clutch his mother's paw and hold onto it when he was scared or nervous.

"I don't want to leave you, baby. But sometimes this has to happen; your father didn't want to leave either of us. He loves you so much and so do I, but it's my time now as it was your father's those few years ago."

"I love you too, mom...just please, don't go...I'm not ready for you to leave me..."

"Just promise me...Tommy...please promise me you will always be this sweet and caring. Don't ever change, Tommy. I love...you..."

Her fingers went limp. The muscles in her paw relaxed and she went cold. All the warmth from her paw was completely gone, causing Kaiser's own paws to nervously shake. Her golden eyes dimmed as if a light had been flicked off, and her eyelids slowly closed over her irises.

"Mother..."

The coyote slowly placed his mother's paw down and gently stroked it once more before leaning up and giving her one last kiss on her cold cheek.

"I love you too, mom...I love you too..."

He whispered as he sucked in more air through his nose, shaking like a brittle old leaf in the breeze as he slowly stood up from his kneeling position. He glanced behind him to see a few nurses and doctors looking into the room. His blue iris flashed a menacing red and they all slowly turned away. He looked down at the lifeless body of his mother and reached into his pocket, his metal fingers clinking against a hard metal object in his pocket. Pulling out a small circular object that was attached to a golden chain, he placed the locket on the table next to his mother's bed and gently opened it.

Two pictures, the one on the left was Kaiser's mother and father holding each other in their arms as they stared forward, light smiles on their faces. The right was of a young Thomas Kaiser, the small boy laughing and giggling as his father hugged him and tickled his sides. A soft rhythm emitted after the locket was opened, the small music box playing a comforting, yet slow and sad melody. Kaiser turned around and slowly walked out of the room, gently closing the door and stepping down the hall, his mechanical right foot clicking against the tiled floor as he walked away from his mother's hospital room.

* * *

_Author's note: Could I borrow one of those tissues? I was quite surprised at myself, while I was typing this, I actually felt my eyes watering up and a little pressure build up in my chest. While I played out this scene in my head, I thought to myself that I should listen to some music that would fit this scene to better help develop the emotions of this scene. A thought came to my mind and the perfect song for this scene came to me. I listened to this song over and over while I typed this and I thought it just fit so perfectly. If you'd like, go to youtube and type in "Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess music". Then scroll down until you find the video titled "Zelda: Twilight Princess Music - llia". It should be on the fifth page. _

_The person's username who made it is called SlivaGunner incase you have trouble finding it. _

_ I sorta fell in love with this song when I heard it playing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. If you try listening to this song while reading the last part of this chapter, I'm almost positive it will make you nearly break out into tears, it did for me and I'm about as cold hearted as they come. Give it a try and tell me what you think. R&R _

-Tex


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of the characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Imperial cruiser Leviathan, Capital planet orbit, 5:05 a.m. Imperial standard time

Two months, two months of star filled skies, two months of metal walls and floors, two months of pounding his fists until they were reduced to bloody piles of meat and bone, it was all he did for two whole months. Kaiser rammed his fist into the large punching bag again and again until the knuckles in his right paw ached, then after a slight pause he started again. The coyote's muscles tightened in his arm as he slammed his fist into the bag once more, the small chain beginning to creak and groan and moan to the stress that was being put on it. With every punch he would mutter a curse or growl and shout as he swung his metal heel into the bag and tore a large hole into it, spilling out a tidal wave of sand.

"Why?"

The single word echoed through his private chambers on the carrier. He leaned up against the wall, feeling the cold metal against the flesh of his exposed torso as he slid down until he crumpled to the floor. His right paw was wrapped in thick bandages that were stained a light crimson tone. He smacked the wall behind him in frustration with his left robotic paw, leaving an impressive dent into the steel surface as he clutched the sides of his head and rocked back and forth. A knock at the door caused him to slowly glance up and rest his arms on his knees and he shouted for whoever was at the door to enter.

A crow stepped inside, glancing around to see Kaiser sitting on the floor with his back up against the wall; most of him covered in shadow save for a glowing blue iris.

"Yes, what is it?"

The crow hesitated for a moment before glancing down at the holographic display chart he held in his feathered hands, the light blue screen casting a dim glow in the dark chamber.

"Commander Kaiser, we are preparing to make the jump for light speed. The captain requests that all personnel be present on the bridge at this time."

"Very well, I'll be there shortly."

The coyote stood up and walked towards his wardrobe cabinet, pulling out a black long sleeved shirt and clipping on his armored vest. He placed a pair of gloves over his paws and slipped on a belt, clipping his knife's holster to his side and sheathing the blade. Then, slipping his boot onto his left foot, he walked behind the crow as the official escorted the coyote towards the bridge.

* * *

Cornerian medical freighter, neutral space zone, 6:05 p.m. Cornerian standard time

"Hey, hey, wake up in there!"

Tex shook his head as he was rudely torn away from his slumber. The sound of someone tapping their finger against the glass made his ears twitch as his gaze began to shift into focus. Looking through the glass, he saw the smirking face of Falco Lombardi as he waved into the chamber at the wolf.

"Hey ya, how you feeling, bet you feel just like a sardine by now don't ya?"

Tex smacked his palm against the glass, causing the avian to jump back a little. He chuckled and brought his hands up in defense.

"Hehe, hey now no need to get hostile, I got something for ya."

Tex looked over the avian's person but found that he wasn't holding anything. Puzzled, the wolf shrugged his shoulders and raised an eye brow.

"I'll give ya a hint; it's something you really want."

Tex looked less then thrilled. He wasn't one for surprises and this sounded like it would be leading up to just that.

"It's white, black, and it's got staples."

Tex already figured out what the bird was going to offer him, he was much sharper then he would ever reveal to Falco.

"Give up? Say something if you know what it is."

Tex stood there and glared at Falco as a stray bubble gurgled out of his mask and floated up to the surface of the water.

"Taa daa,"

The blue bird pulled out a stapled pile of papers and waved them in front of the glass for Tex to see.

"Doctor's orders for you to get out of that giant fish bowl. They said they'd be coming around eight tonight to bust you out. Then after that, you'll just have to go through physical therapy for a few weeks and then you should be good as new. Aren't you glad you've got me to tell you these things?"

Falco jumped back after Tex struck the glass window again. He chuckled and placed the papers on the table in the room as he walked out. The wolf slammed his eyes shut, he wanted to be alone right now, and having either the nurse coming to change his water filter or pump his body full of drugs, the doctor coming in to check up on him and joke around, or Falco coming in and adding his bit was beginning to grow tiresome. He wanted Vicky to be here again, she was a saint for staying as long as she did, but in a period of two whole months, some mission would eventually come up and she would have to be assigned to it. He tried to fall asleep again, shutting his eyes and staying focused on sleep.

He felt rather surprised at himself that he so eagerly wanted sleep, after experiencing only two nightmares the entire time he was in this chamber, he felt satisfied that his mind finally began to understand and force out the bad thoughts. It also helped him escape the pain that continually attacked his body, fortunately the water in his chamber was heated and the jets of bubbles helped with his sore muscles. He pondered how he would react when the doctors eventually cracked him out of this water bowl, perhaps he would feel motion sickness as a sailor would after being out at sea for a long time. He would know eventually in about two hours so his mind strayed to other things, as he fell asleep again his mind strayed to think about a certain she-wolf that seemed to always be on his mind and in his dreams.

Did he love her?

He quickly brushed the thought away. The thought that he could love another living being, it was laughable. He had not loved or felt any other emotion except anger for almost a decade, the red hot rage always clouded his vision. Did he care for her? Yes, he most defiantly did, maybe even adore her, always wanting her company and to make sure she was safe and happy.

But love, love was a strong word, a word that should not be spoken out so carelessly. He would get some strange feelings deep inside his chest whenever she was close, but love? He wasn't created to love, only to kill and that's what he was spawned for. When his mother birthed him, the Goddess had already dubbed Tex Hempioro a killer, a cold blooded, raging, homicidal juggernaut that craved only death, whether it would be his own or someone else's it did not matter. How could he love someone if he couldn't even stand living with himself and what he was?

He cracked open his eyes to glance at the reflection of himself in the glass window. He drew his brows up in a sorrowful expression as he saw himself, looking into the face of a monster. Though the stains were gone, blood would always cover his paws no matter how long he washed them. The sins of his past were some of the most heinous of atrocities that any mortal being could ever perform. So angry he was on his quest for revenge and self satisfaction that he never stopped to look who he truly left destroyed in his path, which is to say he never looked back until it was already done.

Every person he killed, someone's father, someone's brother, and even someone's son. He would never harm a child or a woman, he did have that much of his mind under his control, but he had done things that were unspeakable. Slaughter of men, torturing of countless lives, crushing a man's skull with his bare paws, he even spilt blood in a church, a house of the Goddess and he soiled it. He's killed soldiers, law enforcers, people who stood for justice and freedom. He even killed a priest, it wasn't until the priest did he realize what he had become.

Were these men corrupted and needed to be brought to justice? Yes, yes they were, were they truly evil? No, true evil only exists in books and fairytales. But did these people have lives, others that loved and cared for them? Did they have thoughts of their own and people they loved and feelings of their own?

Yes, they most certainly did, and he killed them all anyway, just because he had a gun and a plastic card with his picture on it that said he could. Many nights he stayed awake, thinking if he was just as corrupt as he stared up at the ceiling from the flat of his back on his cot. He would drink away these thoughts with as much whisky and rum that he could get his paws on, or he would simply kill more. Killing himself or killing others was the only thing that dulled the pain. Not the physical pain like a cut or a broken bone, no this was the living hurt, the kind of hurt that you couldn't fix with an ice pack or medicine; it was the hurt from simply existing and living with what he was.

But he is better; he's older, wiser, a bit more patient and collective. Never did he simply kill for the benefits that one day he might kill the man who killed his father anymore, killing only those who truly deserved it, or would have killed him had he not done likewise. But the memories of his past would always follow him no matter which planet he came to hide or how much alcohol he drank. All this thinking made his blood boil so he soon stopped; trying to forget the past was the best thing for him right now.

* * *

Corneria, Corneria city, 8:10 p.m. local time

The sun began to sink into the horizon, lighting up the snow capped mountain peaks for a moment before the shadows of night stole away the shining brilliance. The door of the small home slowly opened and Victoria McCoy stepped in, dropping her bags onto the floor and making her way to the pull out sofa in the living room. She walked into the main room of the house, not even noticing her older sister sitting on the couch with her nose buried in a book. She glanced up from her reading to see her little sister crash onto the mattress face first.

"Hard day at the office,"

She joked.

"Or are you just tired from worry?"

Vicky pulled her face from the mattress and looked at her sister for a moment before burying her snout into the blankets again.

"Too tired...can't talk."

Vicky's sister slipped the small half-moon shaped reading glasses from her face and sat on the mattress next to her. She placed a paw on Vicky's shoulder and slowly shook her, causing her to grunt and flatten her ears.

"Vicky, I'm saying this in the most polite manner that I can, but you stink, go take a shower before you crawl into bed."

"Since when are you my mother,"

She snapped. Her words were muffled from the mattress.

"It's not my fault I stink, my suit isn't that breathable."

"Just go upstairs and wash up, then why don't you tell me about this man that you visited in the hospital those few weeks you were gone."

Vicky groaned as she pushed off the mattress and walked upstairs towards the bathroom. She glanced at the mirror for a moment as she shed her clothing. She had not cut her hair for these two months and it was beginning to return to the long silky strands that she used to have when she was younger. Her hair had grown almost to her shoulders, keeping it back in a small tail with an elastic band. Slipping through the plastic curtains of the shower, she turned on the spray of warm water and felt it smack against her shoulders and run down her back.

Victoria sifted her fingers through her hair as she lathered her scalp with the bubbly shampoo in her paws, then worked the body wash into the fur of her arms and legs. Washing the white suds from her ash grey fur, Vicky attempted to reach behind her so she could get at her back, brushing the tips of her fingers against the rough slice marks on her back. She grimaced as the scars on her back stretched against her skin as she moved; the whip had cut through her flesh deep, leaving its painful souvenirs that she would carry for the rest of her life. She shouldn't dread too much though, those small cuts were nothing in comparison to Tex's scars. She had only witnessed his upper body, but even that was enough to cause her to take a second glance at him.

The large chunk of meat that was missing from his left shoulder and the blaster wounds that dotted his chest. Many slices across his chest and abdominal area made thin, long X marks across his body as they crossed paths. His arms were no exception, ranging from small little dots to large gashes and claw marks on his fingers, elbows, forearms, shoulders, anywhere there was flesh. His back was completely ravaged by a whip's lash, the sting of blades and burns of energy weapons. She noticed that occasionally he would walk with a slight limp, causing her to guess that if his legs were just as damaged as the rest of his body.

Vicky moved a paw up to her face and felt the fur that covered it, imagining for a moment that what it might feel like if she had the scars that Tex possessed. Parts of the fur would be missing, replaced by bare, rough scar tissue. Her heart raced, a mental image flashed in her mind as she thought thoroughly about his body, she was in love with him yes, but such actions shouldn't be rushed. Victoria turned the showerhead off and stepped out, a shower of droplets falling from the tips of her fur. Running a towel through her hair and fur, she glanced back up at the mirror and pushed a comb through her growing hair.

Pulling the strands back in a tail, she contemplated whether or not to continue to grow it out. When she was in military school she had no choice in the matter, but since she worked for the government now and not the military she could regain the long flowing hair that she possessed when she was a girl. She left the clippers where they were and simply walked away for now, pulling on a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. Creaking down the staircase, Vicky collapsed back onto the mattress and glanced at her sister that had continued reading her book.

"All you ever do is read anymore, what happened to you? You used to be fun."

The older female wolf glanced up from her book and pushed her glasses farther up her nose as they began to slip off.

"At least I don't dump twelve different boyfriends in one week."

"Elli, you're sailing in dangerous waters, don't."

"All I'm saying is you could at least be merciful, every time you get bored with them, you just throw them away like a piece of trash."

"I just haven't found the right one, besides; I have too much to think about with work right now."

Eileen sighed and returned to her book. Moving her irises to look up from the pages, she probed her sister with another question.

"So, about your new victim, could he be the one? You were at the poor boy's bedside for nearly a month in the hospital."

"First of all,"

Vicky sat up and flattened her ears.

"It was only a few weeks, he was inside an ARC, not a bed, and it's a medical-

"A medical freighter, same difference, now continue, who is he? Is he cute?"

Victoria couldn't help it, she normally didn't have a "girl talk" since most of the agents she was selected with were men. She crossed her legs and moved closer as Eileen leaned in closer. They both stifled giggles like high school girls as Vicky described Tex the way she saw him.

"He has beautiful eyes, like two moons, bright silver. He's very hansom, a broad jaw line, very defined features, the visage of masculinity."

"Cut the Shakespearian talk, is he tall?"

"Yes."

"How tall?"

"Hmm, about six and a half feet, maybe more."

Elli's eyes grew big. She placed her book on the coffee table and leaned forward a bit more.

"He's a giant; make sure he doesn't squish you when you two get closer."

"Elli, it's far too soon for me to even consider that with him!"

"Well, did you ever think about it?"

"I..."

She trailed off, causing Elli's lips to curl up in a smirk. Vicky huffed and tossed a pillow at her sister.

"You're terrible, Elli!"

"I just want an answer, little sis, yes or no?"

"...yes."

"Well, just tell him to keep his dirty paws off you until you're married."

"Oh you're one to talk,"

Vicky quickly retorted. She shifted the conversation back into her favor as she put the spotlight on Eileen.

"You claim you and Joseph haven't done anything! I seriously doubt it since you're soooooo in love with him."

Elli clonked the pillow against Vicky's head as she huffed, bringing her ears to flatten against her head and purse her lips.

"Alright, you brat, we aren't here to talk about my love life. You're still a girl, I'm the adult here."

"I'm twenty-three, genius."

"Then why do you insist on acting like a child?"

Vicky responded by lying back on the mattress and placing her head against the pillow as she looked up at the ceiling. Her ear twitched to her sister's vice to her left.

"Did you kiss him?"

She glanced to her left before looking back up at the ceiling.

"Yes, twice as a matter of fact."

"How was it?"

"Elli, it's impossible to describe how it felt."

"It was that bad, huh?"

Vicky huffed as she drew her brows together.

"No, numbskull, it was amazing! A-freakin-mazing and I got to feel it twice."

"Did he kiss you?"

"No, I kissed him both times. Like I told you, he isn't one for expressing his emotions."

"Since when does any man do that? They want one thing and one thing only, Vicky, you know this, you work with men everyday."

"Uggh, don't remind me. But no, not this one, Tex is different."

Eileen stood up and looked down at her sister, bringing her face close to hers so that she had no where else to look but directly into her eyes.

"What makes him so different? You keep talking, but I still have no clue about this guy. I need to know who my sister is gonna be walking down the aisle with."

"Shut up, I warned you already."

"Well, talk about him for the Goddess' sake, you're driving me nuts, girl!"

"Tex is...hollow."

"Hollow..."

Elli simply quirked a brow, she rolled her paw on her wrist in a circle as she waited for her sister to elaborate.

"He's...just...it's hard to explain but he's just hollow...you know?"

"No, not really, give me something to work with."

"Well, he's had quite a childhood. His parents were killed at a very young age; he witnessed his father's murder when he was only eight."

Elli remained silent; her full attention was on her sister as she continued with Tex's origins, at least as much as Tex had told her.

"He lived in an orphanage most of his life, then when he was about fourteen he was brought into the academy."

"The academy, at fourteen?!"

"Yep, when he was at the orphanage, they found that he had quite the intellect for such a small boy. He was in a special program for young teens until he graduated with exceptional marks. Then when he was eighteen, he was placed into a military program designed for highly skilled stealth infiltration troops."

"You mean an agent?"

Elli responded after her sister had finished her sentence. Vicky held up a clawed finger in retort.

"No, much higher then an agent, he worked for the military, not the government, although his assignments were sometimes government orientated. He told me that it was a very discrete, top secret organization. Most of the military had no clue about it, only the General and a few officials that ran the project."

She paused and her expression became somber and more serious along with her voice.

"Then, there was an accident involving the group. Tex's team was killed, leaving him to flee for his life. When he returned to Corneria, they branded him for treason because he disobeyed a direct order that would have risked civilian lives. The innocent people at risk were safe for his actions, but his team paid the price in the end."

"Wow..."

Was all that escaped from Elli's mouth. She looked for more to say, but she was rendered speechless as Vicky continued to talk about Tex's exploits as a bounty hunter and all the stories that he told her.

"And it was because of these traumatic events of his life that he acts the way he does. He never talks, and when he does it's only in small sentences or one or two words. He always has a frown and his eyebrows drawn together in a glare. He's a very angry and troubled man."

"And you're in love with this guy? My Goddess, Vicky you sure have a hell of a taste in men."

"I'm trying to change that, Elli!"

Vicky shouted as she slammed her fists on the mattress, causing it to bounce slightly and creak. She took a deep breath and brushed back a few strands of hair that came loose from her hair tie.

"I want to try and help him. He's been alone his whole life, I want to be the person for him to go to when he needs help, you know? I want him to know that it's ok for him to open up, even just a little. And I want to show him that there is someone in this galaxy that does care for him."

"Well, it sounds to me like you really do love this guy,"

Elli sat up straighter in her seat on the couch and she reached for her book and glasses.

"Why don't you go and tell him?"

"Tell him?"

Vicky balked.

"I can't just go up to him and say 'I love you'."

"Why not, it worked for Joseph and me?"

"You've known Joseph for years before you two started even dating. I've known him for a grand total of a week and two months."

"Well, he already did take you out on a date, unless you don't count spending the evening together with him in the city, how romantic."

Elli swooned as she lay down on the couch, acting as feminine as she could be. She made her voice more high pitched to mimic her sister.

"Oh Tex, I love you, take me away and we can be together forever my renegade of the stars."

She then stuck out her chin and made her voice sound deep and masculine.

"Victoria, if it would bring you happiness, we would travel across the entire universe together, mwah, mwah, mwah."

She puckered her lips and made kissing sounds until the white face of a pillow smacked into her nose.

"You're not helping, Elli. I want to tell him, but it isn't that easy, at least not for him and me. I don't even know if he loves me back."

"Well,"

Elli sat back up and curled her legs.

"Did he seem happy when you showed up at the hospital?"

"He's never been happy in his whole life, Elli, at least not anymore from what he tells me. But he seemed quite excited when he saw me. He never took his eyes off me when I was there with him."

"Yep, he's gaga over you. I can tell these sorts of things."

"Of course you can, Dr. McCoy. Now I'm going to bed. Maybe tomorrow morning I'll go pay him a visit if my legs don't feel like noodles when I wake up."

"That a girl, go get your man,"

She exclaimed as she stood up and closed her book. She clicked off the lamp and tossed her sister another pillow.

"Tell him when you get there, promise me?"

"Fine, I promise."

"And make sure to call me and tell me what he says."

"Alright, fine, now let me go to sleep!"

* * *

_Author's note: Yeesh, I was on the verge of pulling my hair out thinking of what to write about in this chapter. I hope that my lack of thinking didn't hurt the quality of this chapter, which would really add salt to the wound now wouldn't it? Tell me what you think and sorry if it wasn't as good as previous chapters, I just didn't feel very inspired with this one. _


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of the characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Imperial carrier Leviathan, neutral space zone, 6:08 a.m. Imperial standard time

The flashing colors dissipated as light speed was disabled. A violent surge caused many of the staff on the bridge to lean forward, clasping guard rails or any solid object that was close at paw. Kaiser however stood firm with his arms crossed, not even flinching as the ship came to an abrupt halt. He tapped his metal foot against the floor, clicking whenever the steel sole slapped against the glossy surface.

"Sir,"

The coyote turned to see a brown skinned lizard offering him a holographic display of numbers and stats.

"The ship's operational status, the captain wished that you hold onto it and monitor it while his second in command is on the patrols of the outer ring planets."

Kaiser quickly swiped the board from the lizard's claws with his metal appendage and looked it over, his artificial eye hissing as the iris shifted and zoomed in on the status reports. His content blue iris shifted to a neutral green as he deactivated the holo-display and folded up the board, shoving the device into his back pocket of his coal black armored leggings. He flicked his wrist at the lizard, gesturing him to leave as Kaiser stepped out to the many metallic hallways of the carrier. He headed down towards the hanger, the one place he found peace on the ship. The hanger was dark as the lights were disabled, leaving Kaiser alone in the darkness with a few fighter ships that sat docked and unused.

"Hanger shield open,"

He commanded. A loud clonk sounded off as the hanger's outer walls unlocked and began to retract up into the ceiling. The wide expanses of space opened up to the coyote, the holographic shield that allowed for fighters to enter and exit the hanger in space without the pressure sucking out any dock workers or equipment out into the vacuum of space gave off a subtle almost invisible blue glow. The coyote sighed, his iris shifting back into a deep blue as he blinked at the majestic beauty of deep space. He placed his natural paw against the holographic wall and watched as a blue glow traced around his fingers and halted his paw from passing through to the outside.

His paw slid off the transparent barrier and hung at his side, resting on the handle of one of his blaster pistols that were strapped to his thighs. The tips of his fur held an electric tingle whenever he felt at ease; star gazing had that affect on him throughout his life. Ever since he was a pup, he loved to watch the stars...with his mother.

"Mother..."

His voice echoed through the walls of the deserted hanger, flowing back towards him as his ears twitched to catch the sound of his own voice. His eyes grew large as he thought he glimpsed something in the stars. He saw a large group of them, shining very bright despite the digital readout of his artificial eye calculating that the stars were quite far away from his current position. The stars seemed to move on their own as they connected together and formed a shape in the black background of space.

"What, what is...?"

He trailed off as he continued to watch the stars, zooming in with his bionic eye implant to see the bright balls of light more clearly. They began forming now, much more clearly the image came into focus. There was a pair of eyes, curved lips drawn up in a loving smile, and a long narrow nose much like his. He saw the image clearly as a sun rise now, there was no mistaking it. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times to be sure.

There it was the face of his mother, her face sketched from the shining stars as it stared at him with glowing irises. He had always heard that space was linked to the realm of the afterlife and the heavens, but not until now did he ever actually think it was true. He watched stunned, the stars shifted as his mother's face moved and curled up her lips in a smile, her cheeks rising up with the wide smile as her eyes gleamed and slightly squinted as her cheeks pushed up against them. Her eyes moved lower slightly, causing the coyote to stare in puzzlement and glance down to see what his mother was staring at. He slightly gasped as he saw that he was staring at the symbol of the fist clutching the hammer, the insignia of Imperial rule.

He looked back up to see his mother's gleaming and twinkling face staring back at him, the smile still on her lips. She bent down in a slight nod as Kaiser understood. He curled his lips into a frown as his right eye began to fill with moisture. His glowing blue iris clouded over to a pitch black void as he shook with rage.

"I understand. There is still something I can do for you. I love you, mother."

The stars scattered like shattered glass as they reverted to their original position, the glowing outline of his mother's smiling face still burned into the dark sky for a moment. He looked at his metallic paw, seeing his reflection in the polished metal surface. His iris began to burn a bright red as he drew his brows into a savage glare, curling his lips back to expose his newly formed white fangs. He glanced back at the stars and then turned away as he violently tore out one of his blasters from its holster and pulled out his knife from the sheath strapped to his lower back. Clicking a button on the side, the ammunition clip fell from the handle's bottom and plopped into Kaiser's paw.

He brought the tip of his knife to the metal of the ammo clip and carved into its broad side. He carved in the words "mother's love" as he slapped the clip back into the blaster and pulled out his other pistol, unloading the clip and bringing the blade tip to its side as well. He violently cursed under his breath and shook as he dug the blade deeper and deeper into the metal, leaving a deep scar on the metal's face as he scratched in the words "mother's fury" and slapped it back into the gun's handle. He pulled out both blasters now and held them with the barrels pointing up to the ceiling, both hovering to the left and right of his head. He brought the cold metal to the sides of his head and felt the cooling touch as he sighed.

He then straitened them, pointing them forward and twirling them around in his fingers as he himself spun around. He tossed them into the air and caught them from behind his back as he flipped one over his shoulder and clutched it all the while continuing to spin them around like wild erratic tops. He sucked in a breath and threw them up into the air once more; watching them sail upward as the beautiful background of the stars and space glistened off the polished metal of the weapons. They came falling back down as Kaiser clutched both in his paws and brought the bridges to rest against his forehead. He kept his eyes closed as he gave a silent prayer to his departed mother and allowed the tear that was trapped within his eye to roll down his cheek.

He slowly opened his eyes and brought each gun to his lips one after the other, kissing the weapons and bringing them back to rest against his forehead.

"May you watch over me from the heavens and know that I will make you proud. May you guide me when I'm lost in darkness, may you be the light to ward off shadow, may you give my paws the stability they need to deliver judgment to the devils and demons that have wronged me and you,"

He whispered these words to his guns, feeling the cold from the metal work its way into the skin under his fur.

"And may you know that those who have caused us grief will be dealt with by the fury and sorrow of those wrongly taken from this world."

Kaiser kissed his guns one last time and re-holstered his weapons. He then took his knife and retracted his wrist blade, etching another saying into the blade of his curved knife. He wiped off the small scraps of steel that scratched off as he etched in the words "for you" into the gleaming silvery blade. He looked up at the stars one last time before curling his lips up in a slow and subtle smile, and then he turned away to leave.

* * *

Cornerian medical freighter, Lylat's boarders, 8:40 p.m. Cornerian standard time

"Yes, he's been out for about half an hour now,"

Victoria spoke into the microphone as the projection of her sister gave a sigh and shook her head.

"So what are you waiting for?"

"Elli, he just got out, I bet his fur isn't even dried yet. He's going to probably have motion sickness for awhile; he doesn't want me to bother him."

She lowered the tone of her voice as a doctor walked by, changing her expression to a more subtle and carefree one as she gave a nervous wave and a smile. She then reverted back to her normal expression and resumed the tone of her voice.

"I should at least give him a day to recuperate."

"Scared, sis?"

Elli chuckled on the screen as she readjusted the camera a bit, her image shifting slightly until the picture came in clear again. Vicky flattened her ears and pointed into the screen, placing the tip of her finger of Elli's nose even though she wasn't physically shoving her finger against the coal black tip.

"I don't get scared, if you took even one day in my shoes and had to deal with what I deal with, you'd have to change your underwear every five minutes. Victoria McCoy does not get 'scared'."

"Then,"

Elli chided.

"Go in and tell him, he won't care either way. From what you've told me about him, he would probably be ecstatic the moment he lays eyes on you."

Vicky placed a finger to her chin as she tapped it against her lower jaw. She was about to speak until her sister interrupted her.

"He's a wolf, right?"

"Yes,"

Vicky nodded.

"He's a timber wolf."

"Good, you know how daddy is with mixed species relationships."

"I really don't give a damn if he was green with three eyes and spoke a different language. Thank the goddess he doesn't, but daddy can just blow it out his ear for all I care."

"You're still angry at him, aren't you?"

Elli's expression became more somber as she glanced over her shoulder.

"He disowned me, sis. I don't have a father as far as I'm concerned...let's talk about something else right now, k?"

"Right, like you getting your tail in that hospital room and staking your claim!"

"He's not a prize, Elli. Besides, it's not like he's searching for anybody, he doesn't like other people."

"Sounds like quite the romantic type, tall and bulging with muscle, covered in scars, drinks heavily, doesn't smile or talk for that matter, and he doesn't like anyone, oo la la . What's that you're holding there, anyway?"

"Oh this,"

Vicky glanced down at her free paw, clutched in her fingers was a brown paper bag with a price sign etched onto its face with a black marker.

"I went down to the diner before I left and ordered a hamburger for Tex. He's been inside that fish bowl for so long with nothing but a feeding tube keeping him alive in there. I thought he could use some real food after two whole months of having that sludge running through his arm from a plastic tube."

Vicky glanced behind her as she heard someone clearing their throat. A security guard leaned up against the wall and pointed to his wrist watch, gesturing for the wolf to wrap things up on the public communication terminal.

"Alright, Elli, I have to go, this guys being a real tight ass."

"I heard that, miss."

The armored dog grumbled. Vicky stifled a giggle and waved goodbye to her sister's image. Elli gave a wink and stuck out her tongue at the guard that was still standing behind Vicky.

"Go get your man, sis. I'll see you later, love ya."

"I love you too, sis."

The screen went dark and Vicky's ears flattened as she heard a loud "Ah hum" from behind her. The dog cleared this throat a little louder this time and Vicky slowly tuned around and flashed her identification to the guard. His eyes grew large as he realized who exactly stood before him.

"Oh agent McCoy, I-I didn't realize it was you, please forgive me for my disrespect. D-do you need some change to make another call?"

Vicky let the dog sweat for a little while longer before she smiled and patted the dog's shoulder.

"There, that's the correct way to speak to a woman, make sure you remember that and you'll get more tail that way."

"Uh, of course, ahem, carry on, miss."

She curtsied playfully as she stifled another giggle, walking down the hall and glancing at all the numbers that were displayed on the automatic sliding doors. She looked at the number she had written down on her palm with a marker. She came to a halt in front of the door labeled number seven zero six, slowly taking a deep breath and straitening the wrinkles from her jacket. She was about to knock against the metallic surface until the door sensors automatically caused the door to open itself. Funny, his door was unlocked, though doctors usually advised their patients to lock them incase the sensors accidentally caused the door to swing ajar from someone passing by in the hallway.

She peered into the room, it was dim and unlit, the light from the outside poured into the room, revealing the edge of a white mattress and a limp arm hanging off the end. She quietly stepped in, the door sliding close behind her as she hung up her jacket on a coat hook. She reached back to activate the lock on the door so that it wouldn't interrupt Tex's sleep.

"Tex...?"

She whispered as she moved towards the grey furred and scar covered arm that hung off the edge of the bed. Vicky placed the paper bag on the table next to the mattress and gently lifted the large arm back onto the bed, it moved around like a snake as it wormed under the folds of the white sheets and disappeared. She looked over to the other side, trying to get a glimpse of the wolf's face but found that it was concealed by the white sheets pulled over his entire body. The she wolf delicately plucked the sheets on both corners and began sliding it off the male wolf's face. She jumped back slightly and dropped the blanket as Tex erupted in a loud snore, his chest rising and falling as the air hissed out of his mouth.

She was quite excited. She had never seen Tex asleep before, he would always wake up at such early hours of the morning that it was nearly impossible to catch him sleeping. Slowly Vicky pulled the blankets from his face and looked at him, a smile slowly forming on her lips. Tex looked content, cut off from the rest of the world and simply at peace within his subconscious of slumber. This was probably the happiest she would ever see him, his frown was gone as well as his glare and it was replaced with a relaxed and peaceful look of passiveness.

Vicky almost didn't recognize him at first. His harsh face was softened and actually became bearable to look at without feeling uncomfortable. He somehow looked...younger. When she had first met the wolf, she would have mistaken him for being in his late thirties or early forties.

His hair had changed as well; two months of not getting a trim had caused the small spiky tufts that flayed forward in a rough flattop to grow longer and brush back against his skull as the longer spiked locks flayed out the back of his head and curved down to cover the back of his neck. The longest of the spiked locks could be seen touching all the way down to his shoulders. Vicky thought the new look suited him, he looked more friendly and youthful. The ragged scar that ringed around his neck was mostly covered by the hair that covered the back of his neck as well, something even he would find pleasing. She surprised herself as she caught herself lightly stroking the side of his muzzle with her paw, brushing her knuckles along the length of his muzzle and chin.

She playfully twiddled her fingers in the long hairs at the end of his chin that hung down in a goatee. Vicky pulled her paw away from his face as he opened his mouth and let a long and relaxing sigh roll off his tongue. He inhaled a deep breath and let it hiss out of his nostrils as his eyes slowly fluttered open. He tilted his head and his irises dilated as they focused. A look of slight surprise came on his face as he saw Vicky standing above him, her paw resting on his chest just under his neck.

She smiled and slowly blinked, parting her lips to whisper ever so softly.

"Hey."

Tex swallowed the lump in his throat and gave off a slight stammer in his deep voice.

"H-hey...what are you doing here?"

"I heard you were finally coming out of the ARC, I had to come and see you."

She glanced down at her paw as she moved it, roaming her palm over his broad, scar covered chest. As she reached lower, Tex's body began to stiffen up as he grew nervous. He quickly but gently clutched her wrist as he feared that she neared the damaged area of his chest.

"Vicky, wait,"

He hurriedly spoke. Vicky grew puzzled as she glanced at his chest again.

"Everything alright, I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"No, no, I'm fine, just some muscle aches. But my chest...it's..."

"What?"

She slid her paw free from his grasp and pulled the sheets down to reveal his damaged chest. She lightly gasped and brought a paw to her mouth as she stared wide eyes at the large gash in the middle of his broad chest.

"I didn't make it out scot-free. Sorry you had to see this."

He pulled the sheets back over his chest to cover the diamond shaped slash mark that pointed diagonally from the upper left to the lower right. Vicky didn't care; she pushed the sheets off and placed her comforting paw back on his chest, slowly drifting towards the gash. When she neared it, she glanced up at him as if asking permission. He nodded and she lightly touched the rough furless patch of scar tissue. It sunk a bit, much like a large dent in his chest.

She was surprised; it wasn't what she expected it to feel like. It was rough and harsh like most scars were, but from what she heard, his sternum was completely blown away and his ribs were bent back from the heat of the blaster shot that blew the hole through him. The spot felt solid though, very solid, solid as carved stone or steel.

"Strange."

"What, what is it?"

"It's not how I imagined it,"

She lifted her paw from the gash in his chest and came to rest it against the side of his head.

"Its rough yes, but I thought your ribcage was obliterated. It feels...solid, almost like you didn't even have the hole in your chest to begin with."

"Well, it was obliterated; the doctors made me a new one though."

"Made you a new one?"

Vicky quirked a brow and glanced down at his chest again, poking the spot and feeling the solid wall on the inside.

"Solid titanium,"

He knocked against his chest. A deep thumping noise came as he rapped his knuckles against his chest, much like the sound of someone knocking on a door.

"There wasn't enough left of my ribcage to salvage it, so they took out the bent back ribs and replaced the whole front of my ribcage with this. Quite amazing, they showed me X-rays and it looked as if I never lost my ribcage, they molded the metal perfectly to match the shape."

Vicky playfully punched him in the chest and rubbed her knuckles as the wall of metal felt harsh against her fingers. She giggled and patted his chest.

"Guess it's true, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."

"I suppose,"

He grunted as he slowly pushed off the mattress to sit up straighter.

"But nothing can beat having some extra 'insurance' to back you up."

He knocked against his chest again as he grunted from his muscle aches, trying to sit up and hang his legs off the side of the mattress. Tex glanced up and his eyes became locked with the small brown paper bag on the counter across from him. His nose twitched as he sniffed the air and shot out his paw to point at the bag.

"What's in the bag?"

His statement came so fast it almost sounded like one big word. Vicky looked to the bag and lightly smiled. She got up, clutched the bag and opened it, pulling out what appeared like a wad of paper in her paw. Tex knew what it was at the very beginning as the scent of meat wafted into his nostrils.

"For you,"

She chided as she teased him and waved the hamburger around in her paw. Vicky leaned her arm out to offer the food to Tex, but quickly withdrew it as he neared the offered gift.

"But, there's something I want you to do for me."

Tex quirked a brow as he lifted off the mattress and stood tall over Vicky's small form, the tips of her ears only coming up to his shoulders. He sighed and waited as she spoke her demands. They weren't exactly what he expected.

"A kiss, please?"

Tex's eyebrows rose slightly as he glanced at the floor for a moment before shifting his gaze back to Vicky. He hesitatingly took a few steps forward until his body was almost flush against hers, her head craning up to stare up at his face. He noticed his heart beginning to beat faster as that warm tingly feeling in his chest came back whenever Vicky was near. He licked his lips and gulped as he knelt down so that his tall form came face to face with the female's delicate and beautiful visage. His paws shook as he lifted them up to cup both sides of her face, Vicky stood still and leaned forward without any resistance as Tex pulled her face closer to his.

Her eyes remaining only half open as she gazed into his hallow irises. Tex nervously sucked in another breath of air until he finally closed the agonizingly small gap between their lips. He tiled his head to push deeper, causing Vicky's eyes to open fully and then slowly close as she coiled her arms around his neck. Goose bumps rose on her skin as she felt his paws slide off her face and rest on her lower back right above her rump. She rubbed her paws against his massive shoulders and ran her claws through his back as she raked them through his fur up and down.

Slowly pulling their lips apart, Tex placed his forehead to rest against hers as she lightly huffed to regain her breath. She looked up at him as he looked down at her, their arms still wrapped around one another. Her mouth hung open slightly, her pink tongue to come out as she licked her lips of the lingering taste that clung to them. She reached out and stroked under his chin as they brought the tips of their noses to touch, leaning forward to share another kiss. It wasn't even about getting the hamburger anymore; there was no hamburger as far as they knew.

As far as they knew, they were alone together, in each others arms, and there just so happened to be a bed conveniently placed behind them. The thought came to both their minds as he slowly laid her down on the mattress, but it was far too early for such things, they didn't wish to rush into this more then they already were. His massive embrace nearly enveloped her tiny form in comparison to his body. They locked lips again as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his torso. As far as things were leading to, they made sure not to take things too far, not just yet.

They separated once more, drinking in each other's eyes and features as precious as liquid oxygen. She went limp, her limbs slid off his body weakly as she was overwhelmed with emotion, her chest heaving with every breath as she looked up at him. He placed a paw to cup the left side of her face as he sifted his fingers through the fur of her blushing cheek. Her tail thumped against the mattress as it wagged uncontrollably along with his. She melted into his palm, nuzzling it with her nose as he slowly pulled it away and brushed his muzzle against hers, running it along the length of her muzzle as he inhaled her intoxicating and amazing natural scent.

His muscles burned, his body ached, yet he didn't care, he felt as comfortable as could be. She pressed her body against his, feeling the incredible warmth that radiated from him. Tex lay on his side as he kept his arms curled around her and she pulled the sheets over their bodies as she kicked off her shoes and pants to get more comfortable. There they lay together, he was only clad in a pair of hospital boxer shorts and her in nothing but a t-shirt and undergarments, yet they simply closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep as Tex moved his paw under her shirt to rub the fur and flesh of her bare back. He slightly grimaced as he felt the scars on her back where the whip had cut into her skin.

It made him sick that someone would do such things to a woman. He quickly brushed away the thoughts and refocused on the situation at paw. He didn't need to make himself angry, not now; this was a time of peace and joy. He felt things he had not felt for quite a long time, his heart never beat this hard or this fast in his entire life. His ears twitched as he heard a soft whisper spoken into his chest.

"I love you."

Vicky buried her face into his chest as the comforting warmth from Tex's body caused her to drift off into sleep. It was just three words, three simple words, they these three words caused his eyes to fill up with moisture as a tear trailed down his cheek. He leaned his head down and kissed the side of Vicky's muzzle as she rhythmically breathed into his chest while she slept. He buried his face into the side of hers as she sighed in comfort to his proximity.

"I love you too."

The last words she heard as she fell into the grips of slumber. Tex soon followed as his head lazily fell onto the pillow and he coiled his arms around her form firmly yet gently. With the last bit of consciousness left, Tex brushed his nose against her ear and whispered into it.

"I love you...Victoria..."

The name rolled off his tongue and hissed out of his mouth along with a blast of warm breath that made her coo to the sensation and his breathing soon came in tune with hers.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of the characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

* * *

Great Fox bridge, Corneria orbit, 8:12 a.m. Corneria standard time

"This mission is critical to our success of stopping the Imperial threat; I cannot give you authorization for it until every member is accounted for."

"Please, please, please, Pepper, I'm dying here. I need something or else...or else I don't know what I'm gonna do!"

Falco Lombardi threw his hands up into the air as he paced back and forth, the monitor of the Great Fox brought to life as General Pepper held a firm stance in his choice.

"Falco, I'm sorry but we need every member active for this task, all of your skills are needed. Tex should be up and on his feet soon enough, it has been two months I do believe."

"Two months of solid boredom waiting for that guy to finally come out of that fish bowl."

Falco growled and shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and shut his beak tight. He needed a vacation, a real one that was longer then a week at least and not like that crummy little break they got when on Corneria. He was able to see Kat again at least but damn was it irritating having to take down those robbers that tried to hold the bar up that they walked into. Turning back to the screen, the avian sighed and ran his hands through the feathers on his head that were pushed up into a makeshift Mohawk.

"Can you at least inform me on what we'll be doing when everyone finally gets ready?"

Pepper looked at the bird for a moment before raising his eyebrows slightly.

"You're actually interested?"

He shrugged and crossed his arms.

"I might as well listen since I've got nothing better to do. Lay it on me and I'll fill Fox in on the details."

"You're implying that you've never listened to my briefings before, Mr. Lombardi?"

"And I'm still here standing before you, guess I'm just naturally gifted in doing anything right the first time without anybody even having to tell me what to do."

He curled the edge of his beak in a smirk as he watched Pepper's dumbfounded expression before he cleared his throat and straitened the collar of his red coat adorned with medals of all shapes, colors, and sizes.

"Currently, most of the military powers are scattered across the Imperial space territory, seems they are having trouble controlling the outlying planets of their system. The Emperor is on edge as his forces are being spread so thinly, a good chance to strike at the heart of this beast."

He folded his paws on top of his desk and leaned forward slightly.

"The Emperor has issued extra security around himself, leaving the streets and the city almost completely deserted of guards that police the city where his palace is located. With the Imperial capital planet's enforcers all being sent to other planets or protecting the Emperor himself, it will be a good chance to slip into the streets of Ares City. Once there, you will learn of the situation in the center of it all, you will infiltrate into the fortress of military recruitment and sabotage the soldier creation project."

"Soldier creation project and that would be?"

Pepper quirked a brow but answered the bird's inquire.

"We have learned a lot from Miss McCoy's findings from the memory she uploaded into our database. It seems the fortress of Ares city takes recruits that have become soldiers and modifies them with mental stability programs and minor genetic enhancement, making them more aggressive in combat as well as more pain tolerant."

A mental flashback came to the bird's mind when in the frozen plains of Aldun. Michael Corvine, when low on ammo, resorted to using his bare fists and any blunt object he could find to smash into other Imperial troops. The canine even took a blaster shot and seemed to shrug it off as if it didn't even exist.

"So, they modify their soldiers to be more combat effective, and you want us to stop this?"

"Correct,"

Pepper proclaimed, shifting his weight in his desk chair as he sat up a bit straighter.

"This needs to be stopped, along with the Imperial military transportation systems. There are many loading depots for troops to be shuttled to other planets and systems where the conflict will require the most military power needed. You'll have to use Arwings to destroy the depots that orbit the planet, but be advised that you will most likely meet air resistance. Destroy the transportation systems,"

"And they can't send reinforcements to where they need it most."

Pepper nodded as Falco finished his statement. He lifted a paw and cleared his throat to catch the bird's lingering concentration from all the excitement.

"There is one last thing that must be dealt with. I believe you know what this last assignment is."

Falco brought a finger to his chin in thought. His eyes widened as the thought came to him and he spoke in a questioning tone.

"Take out the Emperor?"

"Correct, Mr. Lombardi, with the Emperor's down fall, the Imperial society will crumble. What military force that we can spare will aid you in cleaning up the Imperial influence of the other planets."

Falco seemed quite high spirited as he heard the prospect of piloting an Arwing again; it had been some time since a promising air battle. Giving a thumbs up to the monitor, Falco grinned and clicked a few buttons on the console close to him.

"Alright, General, I'll tell Fox everything you told me and we'll get right on the job once everyone's prepared."

"Good luck, I will see you off when you are ready to take the warp gate into Imperial space territory."

The line cut and the screen went black as General Pepper raised his paw in a salute. Falco turned around and looked rather proud as he whistled down the hall of the Great Fox, his boots noisily clomping down the metallic hallway as they slapped against the floors.

* * *

Imperial carrier Leviathan, Planet Hossin orbit, 9:40 p.m. Imperial standard time

Hossin, one of the many planets giving resistance to Imperial control and influence, the natives were proving rather difficult. Their vast knowledge of the planet and the area made their ambush hit and run tactics quite effective. The animals that populated the lush jungles and rain forests were quite different from the Imperial's standards of normal. From those that they captured, they appeared to have lanky builds that assisted them in running and climbing. Their fur was of a greenish tint that acted as a natural camouflage, and they were quite light and agile.

Kaiser had seen only a few in action since they tend to not come out and engage in open combat, popping out in small groups and quickly disappearing back into the trees and jungles. The language was very difficult to decipher as well, strange whistles and clicks followed by waving paw gestures seemed to make up at least their combative language. They whistled to help blend in with the sounds of the jungle so to communicate while not giving away their positions. It seemed that their entire behavior and appearance was created solely on stealth combat, quite strange, but impressive none the less.

"Commander,"

A voice from behind the coyote caused him to slowly turn around.

"The captain requests to see you, sir."

Kaiser scanned the dog that stood in front of him and saluted with his bionic eye. A digital grid covered the dog's body and read out information for a moment, displaying a small portrait and other information of the dog before Kaiser blinked and switched the visual setting to thermal. He scanned the dog's heat levels and noticed the inner workings of his body giving off a brighter heat signature. All this information was stored into the eye's memory banks as he finished the three second long process.

"Very well,"

He said as he gestured for the soldier to lead him on. The dog nodded and lowered his paw from his chest. Walking down the halls, the digital reticule of his bionic eye moved and zoomed as it marked the main path of his vision. It was on scan mode as it automatically stored data from any object it locked onto, displaying the types of metal that the floors were made from, the elements they were composed of. This all happened quickly and effortlessly as he walked down the hallway with the soldier.

Kaiser smirked as he decided to scan to dog in front of him and learned all the information that was stored in his military profile as well as his civilian data, storing it in the unlimited amount of space of the memory banks built into the eye for future references.

"Here we are, commander. I'll activate the code and you can go meet the captain."

"No need,"

Kaiser stepped towards the digital keypad and typed in the numbers on his own. The dog rubbed the back of his head in puzzlement and then glanced at the door as it began opening.

"How...how did you do that? No one but the captain's squadron knows the codes of this ship."

Kaiser shrugged and grinned.

"Guess I just have this knowledge of things, Private first class Alexander Orrington, blood type O negative, weighs two hundred-ten pounds and graduated two years prior to the Cornerian conflict."

The dog's eyes grew big as Kaiser casually strode into the control station of the ship. The main area of the carrier where all the controls to every part of the ship, be it weapon systems, directional control, or even control of the many automatic sliding doors of the carrier's many floors and rooms. The coyote began scanning everything in sight as he walked over to a malamute wearing a very decorative uniform. The black and white dog glanced at Kaiser with his paws folded behind his back and stood looking as commanding as ever.

"Everything appears to be functioning well, captain."

The dog's bright blue eyes squinted as he looked over his shoulder at the mechanical coyote and slightly frowned.

"That it is, but I'm not the captain. You'll find him just below in the central chamber."

Kaiser was well aware of the dog's facial shift and glared his eyes as his iris shifted a cautious yellow color. He glanced to his left and then tapped on the malamute's shoulder.

"Your fourth cannon's battery is slightly charred from misuse just to let you know."

The malamute furrowed his brows and checked the data on screen as Kaiser smirked and walked away. His ears flicked in satisfaction as the captain's second exclaimed his shock and astonishment loud enough for him to hear. Walking down the small flight of stairs down to the second floor of the command center, Kaiser turned around and made his way down a narrow hallway where two guards were stationed on both sides of a door at the end."

"Halt,"

One of the guards drew up his paw and commanded for Kaiser to stop. The heavily armored soldier slowly looked up and down the coyote's body as he commanded him to spread his arms and feet. Kaiser sighed and did as instructed and the soldier shouldered his rifle and patted down the tan colored canine for any weapons or harmful devices. Slowly pulling out the twin blaster pistols from the holsters on his thighs, the guard handed them to the one standing to his left and he took them, pushing a button on the wall next to him and typing in a set code. A beeped confirmation caused a small section of the wall to slide away, revealing a cylinder shaped object that held an assortment of weapons on its small hook appendages as it spun around.

The guard placed both blasters into one of the hooks and they automatically gripped the pistols and disappeared back into the wall.

"You are permitted to see the captain,"

Said the guard through the speaker system built into his face hiding helmet.

"Your weapons will be returned to you once you leave the central chamber. Be advised, you are now under constant surveillance from this point on. Any hostile actions detected and the automated security systems will-

"Will blast me to kingdom come, I know. May we please continue or do you just like hearing yourself talk?"

Kaiser's interruption caused both guards to turn and look at one another before they opened the door and allowed the Black Ops to enter.

"Finally,"

He sighed as the door slid shut. Though he wasn't able to see the expressions on their faces, the slight temperature increase and faster heart rate was fact enough that he made the two troopers angry. He knew they were on the verge of punching him in the face if he mouthed off again, fortunately they didn't do such a thing for it would most likely be the last thing they would ever do. The coyote scanned the immediate vicinity before his mechanical iris locked onto the only form in the room excluding himself.

"Commander Thomas Kaiser,"

Said a deep voiced tiger. He slowly stepped around a large circular projection system built into the ground of the chamber, a large display of the entire space territory hovered in the air above the projector. Kaiser nodded his head slightly and stepped forward.

"Captain Eros,

The coyote paused to look around the room for a moment before refocusing on the captain.

"You're shorter then I expected."

The tiger gave a slight cough and folded his paws behind his back as he gazed at the projection of the vast space territory. A blinking dot followed by a thin line that was connected to a circle that surrounded the dot caught Kaiser's attention.

"Is this where we are located?"

"Correct, commander,"

The feline reached up and touched the small dot, the digital display zooming in and projecting a close up and detailed view of the Leviathan.

"We are currently in the middle of the outer space territory near planet Hossin. Our current course is Alastar, we believe-

"I wasn't called here for star map conversations, what is it you want?"

The tiger flashed an angry stare with his horizontal feline irises. Cat's eyes were always strange to him. Instead of a round circle for the iris, they had a diamond shaped one that looked much like a door that opened and closed as the entire iris focused and refocused. The captain pushed a button and zoomed out the map, then clicked on a small dot that zoomed in to grow in size as it was identified as planet Alastar.

"You should be honored that I asked for your audience. Normally I don't have your types allowed aboard my ship."

"What do you mean by our types?"

Kaiser raised a brow as he flashed an equally intense glare as his robotic eye seemed to open up and a long red laser trail shot out and landed on the feline. The sight traced up and down the feline's uniform.

"Black Ops, I don't see how such people who stick to the shadows and rarely ever engage in combat are held in such high regards by the Emperor."

"We are more then some snake that slithers around in the tall grass, captain."

Kaiser hissed as he stood in front of the tiger and leered at him, his red iris beginning to irritate Eros' eyes.

"We are like the wind. You cannot see or hear the wind coming, yet it possesses the ability to blow away houses and become an incredible force of nature that not even the most powerful of military force or weapon can stop it. That is what a Black Ops is, captain Eros, a natural force that cannot be seen or heard, yet possesses the strength to lay entire armies to waste and cannot be stopped until they achieve their goal. Just because we hide and don't number in the thousands doesn't mean we don't pose as much threat as a nuclear blast."

Eros stayed stiff as he watched the coyote step away from him and gaze at the image of planet Alastar.

"Now tell me why it is you've asked this lowly Black Ops to speak with you."

The captain cleared his throat and zoomed into the planet that was covered in thick clouds of smog and complex industrial cities. Zooming in farther, they were able to see Imperial troops engaged in fierce combat with the local militia of the planet.

"As you see, our soldiers are in open arm conflict with the local guard of the city. Their knowledge of the city and their options of supplies are much more superior to ours. Seeing as the Emperor sees you and your men in such high respects, I've asked for you and your Black Ops members to drop into the battlefield and decimate this troublesome resistance. Seeing as you possess the abilities of the wind, I'd say this would be simple for you."

"That it would be, captain, however,"

Kaiser lifted a metal finger and held it up to add emphasis to his next statement.

"I wish to have extra compensation for my men and myself."

"Why you insolent little-"

Kaiser quickly lunged forward and ejected his blade to press it against the tiger's neck. A system of alarms blared to life as small cannons seemed to pop out of the walls and ceilings as the laser sights traced around the room until they came upon the threat. The door quickly opened and the two armored guards trained their weapons on the coyote. Kaiser appeared unmoved as he moved to stand behind the captain and lean his face close to the tiger's ear as he hissed his next words.

"Such talk to those far superior then you will be the death of you, captain."

Eros gagged as Kaiser's strong grip around his neck increased slightly, feeling the icy edge of the blade pressed against his throat. He waved his paws and gestured for the guards and the security system to disband and the alarms shut off as the cannons retracted back into the walls.

"Very well, you will receive proper pay for your services."

"My men as well, every last one that sees combat."

"Every one of them, I swear to it."

"You are smart, Eros, you picked the right decision."

He pulled the blade away as it slid back into his wrist and he let the captain go. The guards raised their weapons again as Eros was safe and stood firm. Kaiser grinned and flashed his red iris once more as he spoke.

"I will see to it that Alastar will be wearing the Imperial flags on their poles in a few days. Consider the planet already conquered, captain."

He moved up to the guards and gently pushed the barrels that followed him away. Walking out the door, he opened the panel in the wall and punched in the code. The section of the wall slid away and the weapon's holder rolled out as he plucked his blasters and placed them back into their holsters.

* * *

Planet Alastar, battlefield hot zone, 12:20 a.m. local time

The ground was reduced to the rough brown soil from underneath the layers of concrete and gravel that made up the cities roads. Craters as numerous as a planet's moon dotted the entire landscape as some soldiers took cover in the deep holes. Automatic blaster fire chatters and bucks in the air as it paints the sky a neon glow. Another artillery shell explodes, sending masses of Imperial troops flying and screams as pieces of themselves fly off and land on horrified soldiers behind the fences and barricades.

"You,"

Shouts an officer as he points towards another soldier trying desperately to acquire a signal on his radio,

"Where's the air support?!"

The radio specialist glances at him with a look of complete sorrow and loss as he glances up and simply points a clawed finger upwards. The officer looks up and sees a large cruiser ripped apart by anti-aircraft cannons. The flaming hunk of metal and sparks begins to slowly plummet down to the ground as it explodes in a violent torrent of flame and dust miles away from the battlefield. Another soldier runs up and clasps his paw onto the officer's shoulder.

"Sir, they've taken out the second squad! They have landmines across the landscape ten miles up and we can't send in vehicles!"

The officer was about to respond as he opened his mouth, however a blaster shot smacked into the soldier's head and the troop flung forward and laid face down on the ground. The officer took one more look at his post as he pointed towards what few troops remained.

"You four, with me, were taking the front back!"

Checking his clip, he slaps the cartridge into his rifle and flicks back the loader and climbs over the wall, ducking as shots whiz over his head. Two grunts and shouts behind him tell him that he lost a few men that were following him as he peers over the edge of his hole and blind fires over the edge. A sudden thud next to him causes his heart to climb up in his throat and he quickly whips his head to the sound . His eyes widen as he sees an active grenade sitting next to him and he quickly dives away. Jumping out of the hole the officer smacks the stock of his rifle into an Alastarian and pulls the pin out of one of the grenades that the enemy soldier had strapped to him.

The Imperial officer jumps away and hears a series of screams and explosions as he runs through the middle of the fire fight, shots flying in front of him and behind him as he dives for cover, a shot clipping his calf. A sudden scream from above him causes the Imperial to glance up and see black shapes raining down from the sky.

"Black Ops..."

He whispers as he holds his breath and watches as the agents land on their feet from their free fall. They land on their feet and paws as they stare at the ground, staying motionless until they whip their heads up to stare in front of them in their crouched position and they all simultaneously clutch the small sub machine guns strapped the their backs. Their faces hidden in glossy black armored helmets, only two small red dots of their goggle lenses could really be seen in the black bodies as they all stood up and sprinted strait ahead into the torrent of blaster fire. They move with their arms limply trailing behind them as they lean their bodies forward and propel their weight by the tips of their feet and leap over the barbed wire fences and blockades. Some unload bullets into the soldiers while others unsheathe blades and slice them down as quickly as the gleams of their knives appear.

"By the Goddess..."

The officer sighs in disbelief. He counted only twelve of them but they were taking down the entire resistance with not so much as even one stray shot grazing their gleaming black armored plates. Another wraith of black speeds across the battlefield, a long black cloak trailing behind the shaded form as it strafes from left to right. Dodging the shots effortlessly, the cloaked form leaps into the air and sails over the barricade as an armored coyote tears off his cloak and extends a blade from his left wrist and slides a curved knife from its holster. Landing onto the ground, the coyote quickly turns around and lunges for the troops he flew over, tearing them apart with little time for them to even get a shot off.

Flipping around in a torrent of blades and kicks, the coyote spins on one foot as he extends his left leg and slams his foot into the soldiers that began circling him. Each one fell as he crouched onto the ground and halted his spinning, sheathing his blade and pulling out a pair of twin dueling pistols. The elongated barrels of the pistols gleamed as red hot fire shot from their mouths and tore the lives away from more troops. The coyote twirls the guns in his paws for a moment before sliding them back into the holsters on his thighs and tossed a flash grenade into another group of charging Alastarians. Dumbfounded by the blast of blinding light, they gasp and scream until their voices were silenced.

As the shining light wore off, a large group of soldiers lay on the floor in bloody heaps as the coyote remains standing around them. The blade that protruded from his wrist dripped with crimson along with his knife as he raises a gleaming metal paw to the sky and a small barrel extends out of his wrist, replacing the blade. A bright flash and a flare rockets up into the air and explodes in a shower of sparks as the Black Ops all cease their activities. The black faceless monsters all slowly stand up and simultaneously strap their guns to their lower back holsters and sheath their blades as they walk back towards the coyote in a robotic manner. The tan colored animal gives a series of hand gestures and the group nod in unison as they all sprint away and hunt for more enemy troops.

Some simply slither away into the darkness while others leap high into the air and latch onto buildings and climb up the tall structures like spiders. The coyote remains standing in the middle of the deserted battlefield and slowly walks deeper into the city. The sound of screams followed by the popping of machine gun fire could be heard in the distance as the officer crawls out of his hiding spot and slowly walks around the barren field. The sound of the dead was overwhelming as the silence hung in the air. His soft footsteps sounded like mild explosions as they were the only sound in the area as the machine gun chatter and the screams ceased off into the distance.

He looked at the bodies of both his own men and the soldiers that they fought against, seeing their lifeless eyes staring up at him through the eye slits of their face masks. He still had a hard time believing what he had just saw, yet he did see it. An army of ghosts raining down from the sky and ripping their enemies to pieces as they didn't even take one shot from their weapons. The black shades that once stood here were now gone with no trace of their existence; only the bloody swath they carved into the enemy was all that remained of their being here.


End file.
